Dutch football legend Marco Van Basten(MVB) has revealed his list of the greatest players including Paris Saint Germain (PSG) superstar Lionel Messi. The former Dutch national team boss made a list of seven greatest players and it included Lionel Messi. Apart from Messi, the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Mitchel Platini, Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo, Johann Cruyff and Diego Maradona also made the list.
Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two current players from the list of the seven greatest players as revealed by Marco Van Basten in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca. The three-time Ballond’or recipient also talked about the three greatest players in history from his list of the best seven players. According to him, Cruyff, Pele and Maradonaare the three greatest players in history. He looked up to Cruyff as a kid as he wanted to be like him. Maradona and Pele were also incredible as stated by him.
Ex-Milan attacker Van Basten won the Ballond’or award for the first time in 1988 as he was rewarded for the role he played in leading the Netherlands to win the European Championship. It remains the only major tournament won by the Dutch team till date. Van Basten made it back-to-back wins with the Ballond’or award when he was named the recipient in 1989. Three years later, the Dutchman was named the recipient of the award once again.
Marco Van Basten is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in history. Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won Ballond’or awards than the Dutch football icon. PSG attacker Messi has won the award on seven occasions, while Ronaldo has won the award on five occasions. On Messi, Van Basten praised the petite Argentine international skipper as he said he’s a generational player.