WHAT IF - Marco van Basten Never Got Injured? Football Would Never Be the Same .
Marco van Basten — the one chosen to redefine what it means to be the perfect number 9.
But then... a twisted ankle.
And just like that, Chapter Two of his story was left unwritten. Forever.
But what if... that moment never happened?
What if his ankles had held strong in 1993?
Serie A wouldn’t be the “most balanced league” anymore —
It would’ve been Van Basten’s personal stage for the next decade.
He’d have scored 300 goals... maybe 400.
Topped every golden list in Europe before little Ronaldo even stepped onto a pitch.
Tiki-taka ? might have arrived years later
Because post '93 Milan would’ve torn apart pressing and Catenaccio with just one Van Basten turn.
And the Netherlands? Not just EURO 1988.
They might’ve lifted the 1998 World Cup with Van Basten, Kluivert, Seedorf, Bergkamp.
An impossible squad — missing only… one ankle.
Had he not stopped too soon...
The traditional number 9 might not have disappeared.
It could have evolved — into the eternal blueprint of modern football.
Then we wouldn’t call him “the incomplete genius”.
We’d call him “the man who opened a new chapter — and finished the whole book.”
