Van Basten, at 41 the youngest coach at the World Cup, knows that luck helps.

He admitted he had plenty in Friday's 2-1 victory against the Ivory Coast. It relegates Wednesday's match against Argentina from the biggest first-round game to one interesting only as a spectacle and how it sets up second-round opposition _ most likely Portugal or Mexico.

It is difficult to distinguish Van Basten from a veteran striker in training. He can still play, but cannot run since rough play in Italy's Serie A crippled his ankles and ended his playing days in his prime.

"It is nice being on the pitch and playing soccer, it is the most beautiful thing to do," Van Basten said. "Now, I am a little bit older and I am happy I don't have to act like the players on the field with all the heat and all the attention."

Instead, when he calls everyone around for a tactics session, they all listen intently.

"He has an immediate impact because you know what he has done as a soccer player," Van der Sar said of the former FIFA World Player of the Year.

Playmaker Rafael van der Vaart agreed.

"It is important that he was also a player and he knows what we want and need," he said.

Van Basten has courage as a coach, as he did as a player.

Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert were among big names dropped by Van Basten in favor of players from smaller clubs who were barely known before donning the orange colors of the national team.

Some of his in-house rules are also unconventional. Knowing fines don't work for today's superstars, he picked a different system. Players late for a workout or lunch have to tell a joke to the whole team _ a prospect that scares many, some of whom were already seen carrying "soccer joke" books around training camp.

That youthful playfulness also comes over in his media relations. When German reporters ask questions, and he answer in German, he sometimes tags several extra verbs at the end of the sentence for fun.

As surprising as his player picks and rules have been, his tactics are steadfast. He sticks to a 4-3-3 formation with two wingers and it produces some flowing play.

And even there, he is flexible. Robin van Persie didn't figure in the plans until the winger impressed Van Basten so much in preparations that he made a belated change.

It was a good choice. With a goal and an assist, Van Persie is one of the team's best players at the tournament.