Euro 2012 History: The 1988 finals

Marco van Basten stole the show in West Germany, with his incredible volleyed goal in the final winning the first and to date only major tournament in Netherlands history

30 Nov 2011 12:00:00

By Graham Lister

Marco van Basten
Getty Images
HOST COUNTRY - WEST GERMANY

West Germany won the right to host the 1988 European Championship, receiving five votes to defeat a joint bid from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who gained one vote, and a bid from England (one vote).
 
The German FA selected eight venues for the finals: Munich's Olympiastadion, Gelsenkirchen's Parkstadion, the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Waldstadion (Frankfurt), Rheinstadion (Dusseldorf), Stuttgart's Neckarstadion and the Mungersdorfer Stadion in Cologne.
 
Seven countries had to earn their ticket to West Germany - who as hosts qualified automatically - by winning their group at the end of a qualifying campaign. Among those who made it were England, prompting some protests because English clubs were banned from Uefa competitions at the time (1985 to 1990) as punishment for the role of English fans in the Heysel disaster.
 
England were allowed to compete, but the protests had been valid: violent clashes during the tournament between English, German and Dutch fans in Dusseldorf and Frankfurt stained the Championship, saw more than 200 English fans detained in Germany, and prompted England's FA to withdraw a request to Uefa for their clubs to be readmitted to European competition.
 
QUALIFYING

IN THE NEWS IN 1988...
* After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Union’s Red Army starts withdrawing from Afghanistan

* Celine Dion wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland

* Microsoft releases Windows 2.1

* At the Seoul Olympics, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson wins the 100m with a new world record, but is disqualified after testing positive for stanozolol

* In Germany, one of the worst airshow disasters in history occurs at Ramstein Air Base when three jets from the Italian air demonstration team collide
Despite the curse of the hooligans who followed them, England were unbeaten in qualifying, winning five of their six Group 4 games and conceding just one goal. They still needed a point from their final game, but won 4-1 in Belgrade to finish three points ahead of runners-up Yugoslavia.
 
The Netherlands were also unbeaten in Group 5, with only one goal against, finishing five points clear of Greece. But holders France came third in Group 3, which was topped by the USSR.
 
Italy won Group 2 three points in front of Sweden, while Spain edged Romania by a point at the top of Group 1. The two tightest pools saw Denmark win Group 6 by one point over Czechoslovakia and two over Wales, and the Republic of Ireland qualify from Group 7 with 11 points, ahead of Bulgaria (10), Belgium (9) and Scotland (9).

After completing their own programme, Ireland were helped by Scotland, who beat Belgium at home and Bulgaria away.
 
FINAL TOURNAMENT

TOP SCORERS

Marco van Basten
Oleg Protasov
Rudi Voller
 Nation
N'lands
USSR
W.Germany
 Goals
5
2
2
Unusually for a major tournament, no player was sent off, no match went to extra-time or penalties, and no match finished goalless. There were other surprises, too.
 
After qualifying impressively, Bobby Robson’s England flopped in West Germany, losing their three Group B games – embarrassingly to England World Cup winner Jack Charlton’s Ireland (1-0), comprehensively to the USSR (3-1) and the Netherlands (3-1), for whom Marco van Basten hit a sublime hat-trick.
 
Oranje beat Ireland 1-0 but qualified behind the USSR, who drew 1-1 with Ireland and won 1-0 against the Dutch.
 
Group A’s opener saw hosts West Germany draw 1-1 with Italy, Andreas Brehme equalising Roberto Mancini’s strike. It continued with Spain’s 3-2 victory over Denmark, who emulated England’s three straight defeats. West Germany and Italy both beat Spain and Denmark, but the Germans topped the group on goal difference.
 
Hamburg’s eagerly anticipated West Germany - Netherlands semi-final was regarded by the Dutch as a chance to avenge their 1974 World Cup final defeat on German soil. They fell behind to a Lothar Matthaeus penalty on 55 minutes, but equalised through Ronald Koeman’s 19 minutes later before Van Basten, at full stretch, beat Eike Immel with a low drive two minutes from time.
 
In the other semi-final, the USSR proved too strong for Italy in Stuttgart, where goals from Gennadiy Litovchenko and Oleg Protasov eased the Soviets to their fourth final.
 
THE FINAL
USSR 0-2 Netherlands

Outstanding goals by Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, plus Hans van Breukelen’s penalty save, ensured the Netherlands finally won the championship their exhilarating football deserved.
 
Amid a sea of orange in Munich’s Olympic Stadium, where the Dutch side orchestrated by Johan Cruyff had lost a World Cup final, coach Rinus Michels saw his latest team - built around the extravagant talents of Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Van Basten - finally exorcise those 1974 ghosts.
 
Following a corner on 32 minutes, Van Basten headed Erwin Koeman’s cross back into the middle for Milan team-mate Gullit to beat Soviet keeper Rinat Dassayev with an expertly placed, powerful header of his own.
 
Then eight minutes after the interval, Arnold Muhren’s deep cross beyond the far post was met with a breathtakingly volley by Van Basten and flew spectacularly past a stunned Dassayev from the tightest of angles.
 
To their credit the USSR immediately went on the offensive; within three minutes, an Igor Belanov effort struck the post, and Van Breukelen rashly conceded a penalty. But the keeper made amends by keeping out Belanov’s spot-kick, and the Dutch were heading for their first major triumph.
 
PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT

Although Van Basten went to Germany as Johnny Bosman’s understudy, he left as a global superstar thanks to his spectacular goalscoring feats.
 
Van Basten only came on as a 33rd-minute substitute in the Netherlands’ opening game against the USSR but hit the bar with a header. He was in to stay, and tore England apart with a hat-trick next before scoring the dramatic late winner that sunk West Germany. Then came that glorious volley in the final.
 
Injury cruelly abbreviated the career of a truly great centre forward, but not before he’d scored 24 goals for the Netherlands, 276 for Ajax and Milan, won three Eredivisie and  three Serie A titles, two European Cups, been named European Footballer of the Year three times and World Player of the Year once. Van Basten, currently a TV football pundit, has coached his national team and Ajax, and intends to return to management soon.
 
MOMENT OF THE TOURNAMENT

It’s been hailed as one of the best goals ever, and remains the abiding image of both the final and the tournament. Arnold Muhren’s deep cross was smashed into the Soviet net by Van Basten’s perfect – and perfectly unstoppable – right-foot volley.
 
MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT
West Germany 1-2 Netherlands

There is always plenty at stake when the Netherlands and Germany collide on the football pitch, and their semi-final in 1988 was redolent with significance. It justified the hype, settled 2-1 at the death in favour of the Dutch, who thus achieved their first win against the Germans for 32 years – and some revenge for their defeat in Munich 14 years earlier.

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21:50 BST -  And here are some quotes from today's goalscorer, Danny Welbeck: "It's still the same, me and Ashley [Young] playing together.

"We know each other's games and obviously we're training with each other day in and day out.

"So, it was really good to start up top with him."

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