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Wednesday 17 September 2014

Marco van Basten steps down as AZ Alkmaar coach due to stress



Marco van Basten has stepped down as AZ Alkmaar coach because of stress but will stay on as assistant coach.

The 49-year-old former Netherlands player and manager took charge of the Dutch side in the summer.

However, he had been on sick leave since 28 August and decided on Tuesday he could no longer continue as head coach, with his former assistant Alex Pastoor taking over.

"The stress I experienced was more than I would have liked," said Van Basten.

The former Ajax and AC Milan striker retired as a player in 1995 and was coach of the Ajax reserve team before becoming Netherlands boss in 2004.

He led the Dutch to the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup and the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 before leaving to take charge of Ajax.

Van Basten also managed Heerenveen for two years before becoming AZ Alkmaar coach, but the 1992 world player of the year said heart palpitations brought on by stress had convinced him to step down.

"It (the palpitations) has happened to me several times over the last years. I thought I could overcome it and that things would get better," added Van Basten.

"I worked hard at recovery and followed the necessary courses of treatment. I wanted to keep going but they kept coming back. There were two solutions: to do something else or to change the way I currently work.

"That is why I asked AZ to change my responsibility to better suit me and so that I can continue."

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