Euro 2024 Route: German soil fertile Orange soil (2)

The second part of 'German soil, fertile Orange ground'. Once again, West Germany was allowed to host a major tournament, just like the 1974 World Cup. Now it was the turn of Euro 1988, and ultimately, the Netherlands was very successful, finishing first by defeating the Soviet Union in the final. The media (newspapers, TV, online) were also full of news, interviews, and photos of players who participated in Euro 1988 ahead of Euro 2024. Therefore, here is a short blog about these Orange successes in 1988.

Euro 1988 Qualification

Belgium failed to qualify for the finals. They finished third in their group, behind Ireland and Bulgaria. The Netherlands qualified for the finals, but not without a struggle. During the Netherlands – Cyprus match, a powerful firework bomb exploded in the Cypriot penalty area close to the goalkeeper. He became unwell as a result, and the Cypriot players left the field in protest. After much insistence, the match was resumed and eventually won by the Netherlands 8-0, thanks in part to five goals by John Bosman. He set a record with this that was never officially recognized. It was feared that UEFA would punish the Netherlands for this by means of exclusion or a forfeit, but it was decided to replay the match behind closed doors. On December 9, 1987, the Netherlands won 4-0 after all. This incident is also known as the bomb incident.    

Euro 1988 in West Germany

The 1988 European Football Championship was played between June 10 and 25 in the Federal Republic of Germany (= West Germany). It was the eighth edition of the European Championship, which is organized every four years by the governing football body UEFA. At the time of the 1988 European Championship, the political status of West Berlin was controversial. To avoid jeopardizing its candidacy for the tournament, the German Football Association decided against West Berlin as a host city. Matches were played in eight cities. As with the 1986 World Cup in Mexico two years earlier, voices of protest were raised prior to the tournament regarding the participation of the English team in the European Championship, due to the involvement of English fans in the Heysel disaster in 1985. Ultimately, however, no significant problems arose with the English supporters.

The draw took place on Tuesday, January 12, 1988, in Düsseldorf. As the host nation, West Germany was automatically placed in Pot 1. England was also a seeded country and therefore could not be drawn against West Germany. Originally, Italy and the Netherlands were also to receive special status, but this was abandoned a day before the draw. Both countries, like Denmark, the Soviet Union, Spain, and debutant Ireland, were freely drawn across the two groups. During the draw, six numbers were drawn to determine which group Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the Soviet Union, Denmark, and Ireland were drawn into (in order). Numbers 2, 3, and 4 corresponded to Group A (with West Germany), while numbers 6, 7, and 8 concerned Group B (with England). Number 7 was drawn for the Netherlands, which meant they avoided host nation West Germany and were allowed to play their group matches not far from the border (in Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Gelsenkirchen). Ultimately, Italy and the Netherlands were drawn into different groups after all. Group A: West Germany, Italy, Spain, and Denmark. Group B: Soviet Union, the Netherlands, Ireland, and England.

The final tournament was played with eight countries, of which West Germany had automatically qualified as the host nation. Defending champion France was eliminated in the qualifying phase in favor of the Soviet Union. The Netherlands ultimately won the final on June 25 in Munich, defeating the Soviet Union 2-0. It was the first and, to date, only European title for the Dutch team. This European Championship featured some remarkable and rare statistics for a major tournament: for instance, not a single player was sent off during the tournament, no match in the knockout phase required extra time or a penalty shootout, and at least one goal was scored in every match.  

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UEFA EURO 2024: https://www.uefa.com/euro2024/ KNVB Our Orange: https://www.onsoranje.nl/ Previous Route Euro 2024 blogs: https://www.postzegelblog.nl/tag/route-euro-2024/ Previous EURO2020 blogs: https://www.postzegelblog.nl/tag/euro2020/ The Orange Feeling of '74 (NOS, five episodes of feel-good program, June 10-14, 2024): https://npo.nl/start/serie/nos-het-oranjegevoel-van-74/seizoen-24/nos-het-wk-van-74_1