Van Basten to resign as Dutch national football coach

Netherlands' coach Marco van Basten speaks to reporters after their match against Albania in their Euro 2008 Group G qualifying soccer match at the Qemal Stafa stadium in Tirana Sept. 12, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

BRUSSELS, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Marco van Basten will resign as coach of the Dutch national football team after the 2008 European championships, Dutch media reported Tuesday.

Van Basten and assistant coach John van't Schip will leave the team after the tournament next June in Austria and Switzerland, the Dutch football association KNVB said in a statement Tuesday.

The national team won most of the matches it played and yet there was much criticism. Van Basten, the former European footballer of the year and world footballer of the year, was accused of lacking insight and tactical skills.

In the coming months, the 43-year-old coach will focus exclusively on the European Championships, Radio Netherlands reported.

"By the end of Euro 2008 I will have been national coach for four years, which has given me a lot of pleasure," van Basten told Dutch news agency ANP.

"John and myself have no idea what our future holds," he said.