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ESPNsoccernet: Europe | |
Dutch legend Marco van Basten is set to return to management this summer, as he takes charge of Eredivisie side Heerenveen.
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Van Basten, 48, left Ajax in 2009 after he failed to guide them to UEFA Champions League qualification. The former Netherlands boss has not been in a job since - instead working as a pundit for Dutch television channel Sport 1 - but he will head to Heerenveen after current boss Ron Jans opted against extending his contract.
"This feels like a good and new challenge," he told a press conference on Monday. "I will bring with me the experience I have gained working with the Dutch national team and at Ajax. I am wiser now than then.
"A few weeks ago I spoke with Heerenveen for the first time. These conversations inspired a lot of confidence. SC Heerenveen is a very nice club. Last summer I decided I would prefer to work in the Netherlands than go abroad."
Asked if he felt he had to prove himself, Van Basten replied: "You should always have to do that, wherever you are going to work. Even Sir Alex Ferguson must do that every day. That will not be different here."