Van Basten leads tributes to Michels

Holland coach Marco van Basten today led the tributes to Rinus Michels, the man who pioneered "total football", who has died at the age of 77.

Playing under Michels, van Basten’s spectacular volley completed Holland’s 2-0 win over the Soviet Union in the 1988 European Championships final, the only trophy ever won by the Oranje.

Michels was also at the helm when a Holland team including the likes of Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens lost the 1974 World Cup final to West Germany.

Van Basten compared the mastermind of "total football" to Nestor, a figure from Greek mythology renowned for his wisdom.

Van Basten said: “The death of the Nestor of the trainers guild, the father of Dutch football, is an enormous loss for the football world.

“Michels was a man who had all the qualities of a top coach. He could motivate a group and could at the right time ease the pressure because of his special humour.

“But he could, on the other hand, also be tough while at other times he showed his warmth.

“It’s not for nothing that he is the only coach who picked up a real prize with the Oranje. As for me personally it was a very special thing that Michels gave me the license to be a coach in Holland.”

Ajax director Arie van Eijden joined in the tributes, saying: “I am shocked by the death of Rinus Michels, despite the fact we knew he was not well.

“Rinus Michels has been a key figure for the club (Ajax) and international football. A big Ajax man and a club honorary member has left us and that gives us enormous sadness.”

Michels passed away early on Thursday morning in a hospital in Aalst, Belgium after complications resulting from heart surgery two weeks ago.

Known as “the Sphinx” in his homeland, Michels played for Ajax in the 1940s before returning to the club as head coach in 1965.

During the following six years Ajax won the national championship four times and the KNVB Cup three times, before Michels steered the Amsterdam team to the first of three consecutive European Cups in his final year in charge in 1971.

The 2-0 victory over Panathinaikos in the final of the competition was his last match in charge of the team.

Michels then enjoyed a brief but successful spell in charge of Spanish giants Barcelona, whom he helped to the Primera Liga title in 1974.

He then returned to Holland to take charge of the national team, who reached the 1974 World Cup final, before losing 2-1 to West Germany.

Holland had played fantasy football during the tournament and took the lead before a German player had touched the ball – the first to do so was goalkeeper Sepp Maier when he picked Neeskens’ penalty out of the net.

The Dutch team of the mid-1970s featured Cruyff, Neeskens and the likes of Ruud Krol, Arie Haan, Johnny Rep and ex-Celtic boss Wim Jansen.

The term "total football" was coined to describe a team where all 10 outfield players seemed comfortable and creative with the ball at a time when defenders were not generally renowned for their silky skills.

However, in the final the Germans fought back to win, albeit with the help of a disputed penalty.

In 1988 – in the same Munich arena where the World Cup had slipped through his fingers 14 years previously, a header from Ruud Gullit and Van Basten’s volley against the Soviets saw Michels’ Oranje lift their first – and so far only - major prize in Euro 88.

KNVB (Dutch Football Federation) president Jeu Sprengers said: “The international football world is shocked by the death of Rinus Michels.

“Inside UEFA he was seen as the godfather of the coaches. The technical commission always invited him along as an honorary member.

“That says a lot about the international appreciation for the man whose name fits in the gallery of the biggest (coaches) in the football world: Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Helenio Herrera and Ernst Happel.

“Michels is the biggest coach Holland ever had. Rinus had the most successes in Dutch football, in 1974 and 1988. He stood as a model for what made the world love the Oranje – attacking total football.”