1988 European Championships

West Germany was chosen as the venue for the 1988 European Championship finals, the tournament was just as exciting as it had been billed up to be.
England were once again the big disappointments, losing all three of their matches, Holland on the other hand were a delight to watch, they started off slowly losing at the hands of fellow potential finalists USSR 1-0, they crawled back with a stunning 3-1 victory over England. USSR topped Group A with two wins and one draw. West Germany and Italy emerged from Group A level on points and both sides were through to the semis. They disposed of Spain and Denmark in the group.
One of the finest games in Euro 88 was between England against Holland. England got off to a bad start conceding a goal to Van Basten just before the end of the first half. Peter Beardsley led the fight back and Bryan Robson climaxed a move with a brave equalizer, his drive through the Dutch defense was typical of the Manchester United and England captain. England’s fans celebrated but unfortunately not for long. In the 73rd minute Van Basten burst back into the game, now it was the turn of the Dutch fans to celebrate. Next Holland won a corner on the right, Frank Rijkaard moved forward to keep the defenders guessing, when it flew over everyone’s head, their was Van Basten to complete his hat trick. The England Manager Bobby Robson was then staring elimination in the face.
Holland beat West Germany in a nail biting encounter, which saw the Germans take the lead through a Mattaus penalty, Holland battled back scoring and their infamous striker Marco Van Basten scored the winning goal to send them in to the final. Italy faced the Soviet Union in the other semi- final match; the USSR came out on top 2-0 and progressed to another European Championship final. The Dutch met the Soviet Union in the final of Euro 88, and Holland played some of the best attacking football ever witnessed at international level, goals coming both from Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten was enough to ensure victory and Holland were the European Champions for the first time. Holland went into the final as clear favorites to beat the Soviet Union. Standing in their way was the Soviet goalkeeper Rinat Dasaev, probably the finest goalkeeper in the world at the time. Holland as expected made the early running, in the 33rd minute they forced a corner on the right, the Soviet defense failed to clear it, Gullit took decisive advantage to head Holland into the lead, and it was his first goal in the tournament and probably his most important goal ever for Holland. After nine minutes in to the second half the Dutchmen scored a truly memorable goal, Berry Van Aerle provided the cross from  the left, Van Basten positioned from beyond the far post, volleyed home for one of the most outstanding goals of this and any other European Championships. It was his fifth goal of the finals and would ultimately earn him the title of footballer of the year. The Soviet Union looked for a way back into the match and were awarded a penalty with few minutes remaining. Hans van Breukelen saved the penalty and the score ended 2- 0 to the Dutch. Gullit collected the cup; he had more reason than most for enjoying the game as few months earlier it appeared doubtful if he was ever to play football again after knee trouble.