Today I'm going back 34 years to the Euro88 European Championships Group Stage match between England and Holland played at the Rheinstadion in Dusseldorf and attended by 63,940 including myself and Russ Morgan (RIP). The Berlin Wall didn't come down until the following year and East and West Germany weren't formally reunited until 1990 so these Championships took place in the old West Germany and boy does that make me feel ancient!
Both sides had opened their Euro88 campaign with a defeat and so another would spell almost certain elimination from the tournament. England had disastrously lost 1-0 to Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland in Stuttgart whilst Holland had also lost 1-0 to Russia in Cologne. Given Dusseldorf's proximity to Holland (it's only about a 2 hour drive to the Dutch border), the stadium seemed to be overwhelmingly bedecked in orange and it felt as if this was a home game for the Netherlands.
The first goal in the match came along just before halftime but sadly it was the Dutch that scored it through master predator Marco van Basten. England had earlier hit the Dutch post twice through efforts from Lineker and Hoddle but the ball just would not go in. However, early in the second half, England finally stuffed one in the net and it came from, who else but, their talisman and skipper "Captain Marvel" Bryan Robson. The next goal, when it came, was going to be crucial and, regrettably once again, it came from the boot of van Basten in the 71st minute before he wrapped up his hattrick and the game as well four minutes later with a goal from a corner.
Largely due to injury, Marcel "Marco" van Basten had a career of relatively few appearances that were spread across 12 seasons for Ajax and AC Milan. In total he made 379 club appearances scoring over 280 goals for a top class average of one goal every 120 minutes. For Holland, van Basten made just 58 appearances scoring 24 goals. Van Basten's hattrick against England wasn't even the most goals that he scored in a single International: he notched five for Holland away to Malta in 1990 as part of an 8-0 victory in a European Championships Qualifier. Van Basten was also a highly decorated player winning three League titles at each of Ajax and AC Milan and three European Cups for the latter. When you consider that van Basten frequently played either with injections or in considerable pain, his goal scoring record is remarkable, and he is right up there with the greatest players of all time: Diego Maradona said that it was between Romario and van Basten as to which was the greatest player that he ever saw.
England's miserable tournament was rounded off by a third defeat, this time against the Soviet Union. Holland went on to win their final match of the Group Stage beating the Republic of Ireland by a goal to nil in Gelsenkirchen to finish second in the Group behind the Russians and thereby qualify for the Semi-Finals of what was just an eight team tournament at the time. In those Semi-Finals, Holland came up against the hosts West Germany and came from behind to beat them 2-1 in Hamburg to reach the Final. Holland faced the Soviet Union for the second time in the tournament, in the Final and won the game and the European Championships with a 2-0 victory that included an astonishing volley by that man van Basten who ended the tournament as top scorer with five goals. The goal that clinched the Final was surely one of the greatest ever International goals.
CRB Match No. 564
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