Clockwork Orange

Back in the 80's, before European Union laws blurred borders between nations, clubs in the continent could only have three foreign players on the field in a given moment. AC Milan's success during the end of that decade had a lot to do with the fact that they filled those slots with one of the best known trios in football history: Marco Van Vasten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard. The Dutch trio led Milan to consecutive titles of the Champions League, then known as the European Cup, in 1988 and 1989.

The Dutch national team also benefited from the magic that emanated from the trio's boots. West Germany hosted the Euro 1988 which saw the Clockwork Orange dominate the tournament with precision in the passes and beauty in the goals. The championship final, a rematch between the USSR and the Dutch who had met in the first stage, was the perfect scenario for one of the best executed goals in history. Marco Van Basten was the author of that goal and the star of the tournament.

Twenty years later, the trio is still making history, or at least attempting to, but this time from the bench. Ruud Gullit is now the head coach of Beckham's club, the L.A. Galaxy, while Rijkaard was, until recently, the coach of Spanish club FC Barcelona, with whom he had quite an impressive run. Van Basten is again leading his national team, this time as a coach. While the fate of Barcelona and Galaxy has pretty much been established for this season, the Oranje are still bidding for a much needed title, that of European champions. If succesful, Van Basten will again make history by becoming the first person to ever win that title both as player and as coach(1). With a tough first stage in their path, the question is: will the generation of players he inspired deliver for the soccer legend?
NOTE: (1)A reader asked if the German player/coach Verti Vogts had also won the championship both as player and coach. Click on the comment link to read more.