UEFA Euro 1988 - the major football tournament
The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship ( Euro 88 ) was the eight final European Football Championship tournament supported by UEFA. It took place in West Germany between 10 June and 25 June 1988. Euro 88 was a major football tournament being completed without a single player being sent off, any knockout matches going into extra time or penalties and having at least one goal scored in every match.
Eight teams competed in the competition, including West Germany, guaranteed qualification for hosting the tournament. The holders, France, failed to qualify and it was Ireland's first appearance in European Championships.
The Netherlands had not only the four superstars, Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, and Ronald Koeman, but also many talents such as Gerald Vanenburg and Arnold Muhren. Germany staged Euro '88 and looked a certain bet to win its third European crown before running into the indomitable Marco van Basten and the Netherlands in the semifinals. The Dutch disposed of their gracious hosts before dispatching the Soviet Union in due course in the final thanks to a brilliant effort from van Basten. 
The whole list of strong teams of Euro 1988 included:
- Denmark
- England
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Republic of Ireland (first appearance)
- Spain
- USSR
- West Germany (hosts)
West Germany and Italy finished 1 and 2 respectively in Group A, with Spain and Denmark rounding out the group. In Group B it was Netherlands and the USSR who progressed, leaving England and Ireland to be eliminated. Highlights of the group stage included a Marco van Basten hat trick in Netherlands' 3-1 victory over England and the match between Denmark and Spain, which produced 5 goals.
In the semi-finals, the Soviet Union coached by Valeri Lobanovsky faced Italy at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart. Italy had promising youngsters including Paolo Maldini, Gianluca Vialli, and Roberto Mancini. Nevertheless the Soviets played collective football built around the members of FC Dinamo Kyiv and beat Italy 2-0. The USSR cruised into the final to face Netherlands. The other pair of the semi-finals were West Germany and the Netherlands. They met in the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg and played in what was to prove to be a hugely exciting game. After the half-time of the match Lothar Matthus scored the first goal against Netherlands. In the 74 th minute the game was equalised due to Ronald Koeman. The game looked to be heading for extra time when Marco van Basten scored the winning goal in the 88 th, in what would prove to be one of the most important goals of his career. The Dutch beat the hosts Germany to reach the final.
The final was held in front on more than 70,000 fans at the Olympiastadion in Munich. The Netherlands fueled by their victory over Germany overwhelmed the Soviet Union in the final. After the first goal by Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten volleyed in an angled shot, a legendary beautiful goal, to win the match 2-0 and lead the team to their first European Championship. The tournament eventually crowned Netherlands as European champions for the first, and so far only time. Marco van Basten scored one of the greatest goals in European Championship history as Holland downed the USSR 2-0 for their only international success to date. Ruud Gullit headed the Dutch in front after 33 minutes, before Van Basten's moment of magic nine minutes after half-time.
The matches took place in following venues:
- Olympiastadion, Munich (Capacity: 69,000)
- Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen (Capacity: 62,000)
- Volksparkstadion, Hamburg (Capacity: 61,200)
- Waldstadion, Frankfurt (Capacity: 61,000)
- Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf (Capacity: 55,850)
- Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover (Capacity: 50,423)
- Neckarstadion, Stuttgart (Capacity: 50,000)
- Müngersdorfer Stadion, Cologne (Capacity: 47,000)