Marco van Basten appointed as assistant coach of Netherlands

Marco van Basten is returning to the Netherlands' coaching staff.

The Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond announced on Thursday that the 1992 World Footballer of the Year was appointed assistant coach of the Oranje until the end of 2018, and will work alongside newly appointed manager Danny Blind.

Van Basten was manager of the Netherlands between 2004 and 2008, during which time he guided the national team to the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup and the quarterfinals of Euro 2008. Most recently, he was an assistant manager at Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

During his playing days, Van Basten carved out a phenomenal career at both AFC Ajax and AC Milan, and was part of the Netherlands squad that captured the Euro 1988 title, which stands as the country's greatest football achievement.

One of Van Basten's first assignments will be to help the Netherlands recover from a slow start in Euro 2016 qualifying, as they sit behind Iceland and Czech Republic in Group A.