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00:00 The last traces of his football grace in the league, Marco van Basten, left them carved and deep in San Paolo, a great stadium that in November 1992 was still called that way.
00:13 The last healthy goals of his football trail in Italy. And Naples was a witness to it.
00:21 After those four goals in Napoli Milan 1-5, the "Bird" scored another four goals against Gothenburg, but in the Champions League. Then nothing more. And no one, unfortunately, will ever be enough to make the idea.
00:35 After Napoli, in fact, for Van Basten in the league, there were only some small appearances in December 1992, before deciding to operate, and then again only Ancona's sick goal in May 1993. In short, Napoli last horizon.
00:52 The last attempt to break the record of goals in a single championship, signed by Antonio Valentin Angelillo, made in 1959. Napoli, our last tribute. To what was by far, at that time, not only the best goal scorer in the world, but also and above all the most graceful player in the world. Marco van Basten, of course.
01:14 After that Napoli Milan 1-5 in November 1992, the "Bird" proved to be out of the ordinary not only in terms of technical skill, but also in terms of speech and communication.
01:25 At the end of the game, only he was waiting for the microphones and the fans in the stands of a stadium that houses secrets and champions. And he, Van Basten, here he is, punctual and creative. Do you want me to tell you my four goals? One strong, one quick, one sweet and then one clever.
01:44 He did not score a single goal of the five against that Napoli that had Giovanni Galli in goal and Claudio Ranieri on the bench. With an unusual number 10 shirt, halfway between Van Basten's first double and the Dutchman's second double, he had scored, Stefano Eranio.
01:59 I remember how it was yesterday, Massaro, who was right-footed on the left, I came to the bottom and I, starting in the middle of the field, because it was a restart, took the Metropolitano and kept it to the bottom.
02:18 Massaro then saw me in the air, crossed this very tight ball and I, flat, scored. I had a great feeling, also because every time you enter the field, for that Milan that was full of great champions.
02:37 It was still exciting, but above all the psychological strength of this team, the knowledge of being a really great team.
02:53 Van Basten was a fabulous player and he was always the first option for me to pass, because he made things simple and difficult. He was the champion with a capital C.
03:13 There were 73,000 fans at the stadium that day, many Neapolitans, but also a nice corner of the whole of Rosso Nero, in the heart of a transfer where the guys of the Milanese fans never give up, even if they are close to the team, even in the most important opponents' strongholds.
03:28 At the end of the game, 1-5 in favour of Milan del Cigno. There were clashes, disorders, all internal to the dynamics of the Parthenopean, a whole atmosphere of protest and contestation by the fans.
03:41 "Give us back Maradona!" shouted the leaders at the end of the game, still hot after the defeat.
03:50 Many years later, the stadium would have been named after Diego Armando Maradona, but in that November 1992, there was only one thing that was left of the Napoli-Milan of the Scudetto, of the Napoli-Milan-Cross-Country-Cross-Way-for-the-Tricolore.
04:04 The gap between the two teams had been dug by the strong goal, the quick one, the sweet one and the clever one, by Marco Van Basten.
04:14 Not only that, but the unimitable and unimitable sign of Utrecht was black, the carved symbol, the combination of the square and the enlargement of the crest.
04:25 That afternoon, there was a Napoli fan in loan to Bari, a goalkeeper who had already been a reserve of Giovanni Galli at San Paolo and who, from the following season, would have been the Napoli's starting goalkeeper for six years until 1999.
04:41 The goalkeeper cut the canvas, even if that afternoon he was preparing a game for Bari. No, he didn't forget.
04:48 In 1995, one at home with Milan, for us Neapolitans it wasn't easy to digest, but then seeing Van Basten's performance, the goals he scored, you understand that this boy was a great champion.
05:11 Unfortunately, he didn't make much of it because at 29 years old he quit his career.
05:18 But that was a game where we Neapolitans, Neapolitan fans, always hoped that Napoli could do something more.
05:27 Last time Giovanni Galli was a team mate of Milan, he was very successful, but he couldn't do anything against Van Basten because when these great champions are on the pitch, it doesn't matter who can be there, but it's hard to stop them.
05:48 I think the sad part for all fans and football fans is that they haven't seen a great champion like Van Basten for a few years.
06:00 All true, all right, that November 8th 1992, Milan, host of Napoli at San Paolo, won two points with a performance to remember.
06:10 Marco Van Basten was the star of that Sunday afternoon, when all the games were still at 3pm.
06:16 Marco Van Basten, unstoppable in a month of record that preceded the fatal injury of this great outclassed Utrecht.
06:26 All true, all right, all rational, yet those goals were and remain beautiful, strong, swift, sweet and clever, but also and above all cursed.
06:36 Because the San Paolo quarter-final and the other one in the Champions League, two weeks later, against the Göteborg of the eternal Thomas Ravelli, were, well, two traps.
06:46 Two goals, two wins and two triumphs that convinced Van Basten that Milan had the Scudetto without rivals in November and that the same thing would happen for the qualification to the Champions League final.
06:58 All done, and then, since even if the goals were one sweeter and stronger than the other, the ankle hurt anyway, it was worth it.
07:06 To operate, which, Marco thought, would not have been harmful for a team that had already been launched, for a team that was too strong than the others, both in Italy and in Europe.
07:17 Without the quarter-finals and without the goals, Marco would have resisted the idea of operating and would have continued to play.
07:25 Who can say it? Who can be sure of it? Maybe he would have operated in the summer with a Champions League cup won in addition, but with a career still destined to break.
07:34 Scenarios that cannot be rewound, crossroads fragile like his ankles.
07:40 Napoli and Göteborg, the last feature film, quality films on the cradle of destiny, which has given so much and taken so much, because the Napoli-Milan of Van Basten have always been so much, even if they are terribly missing, they are missing to die.
07:55 To be continued...