1988, The Netherlands

West Germany, as the hosts of the Euro 1988, qualified for the tournament by default. Euro 88 witnessed some rare feats - a major football tournament that ended without a single sending-off or a goalless draw, nor any knockout matches going to extra time or penalties.

Seven teams qualified for the play-offs while hosts West Germany were the automatic entry. The play-offs were played between eight teams divided into two groups of four each. West Germany, Italy, Spain and Denmark formed Group A while Group B consisted of Soviet Union, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland and England.

The semi-finals were played between West Germany-Netherlands and Italy-Soviet Union.

The first semi-final seemed destined to be West Germany's. Lothar Matthaus's second half penalty gave the Germans the required boost against the run of play. But as much as the Germans denied, the Oranje were desperate to avenge the 1974 World Cup final loss to the host nation. Ronald Koeman got the chance to level when Jurgen Kohler was adjudged to have fouled Marco Van Basten. Koeman scored from the spot. The unstoppable Van Basten then put the ball into the far corner after a searching pass from Jan Wouters two minutes from time. The Oranje had beaten West Germany - the first time in 32 years.

A stylish USSR side took on a young Italian side in the second semi. It was a tight and peevish contest until the first hour when the game suddenly opened up. Signs were auspicious for Italy as they went into the break 0-0 as they had in every other game in the tournament. But Oleh Kuznetsov and Oleksiy Mykhailychenko, who combined to set up Serhiy Litovchenko, had other ideas. Oleh Protasov scored the second and the final goal of the game to ensure USSR, and not Italy, booked a date with Netherlands whom they had defeated 1-0 in the group stage opener.

As fate had it, the tournament was to end as it had begun with a Dutch-Soviet encounter. Van Basten was not in the Dutch team in the 1-0 loss in the group stage. Since then he had become indispensable and probably was at his inspirational best in the final. His gravity-defying header set up Ruud Gullit for the opener. If that was not enough, his real class came to the fore when he hit a stunning volley from the most difficult of angles. A 2-0 victory meant the Oranje had clinched their first major title.