Last updated on .From the section European Football

John van den Brom made two appearances for the Netherlands, an 8-0 win over Malta and a 6-0 victory against San Marino

AZ Alkmaar have appointed John van den Brom as their new coach following Marco van Basten's decision to step aside because of health issues.

Van den Brom, who was sacked by Belgian champions Anderlecht in March, has verbally agreed a deal external-link and the 47-year-old will sign a contract next week.

Former Netherlands striker Van Basten will stay at the club as his assistant.

Van Basten, 49, quit earlier this month after suffering heart palpitations brought on by stress.

The former Ajax and AC Milan frontman 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.

Marco van Basten on why he stood down as coach "The stress I experienced was more than I would have liked. 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."

Van Basten took over as AZ Alkmaar manager in the summer, replacing Dick Advocaat. However, he had been on sick leave since August and announced he was stepping down as coach on 16 September.

"The palpitations have happened to me several times over the last years. I thought I could overcome it and that things would get better, but they kept coming back," said Van Basten.

His successor Van den Brom is a former midfielder at Ajax and Turkish club Istanbulspor, and won two caps for the Netherlands.

He has coached at Den Haag, Vitesse Arnhem and Anderlecht, where he won the Belgian title in 2013.