Joy Sports Euro Moment: Van Basten's injury to glory story at Euro '88

WELCOME to the continuing ‪#‎JoySports‬ buildup ahead of UEFA EURO 2016, which kicks off on June 10 in France. The series started on May 10, and lasts until kickoff. Get ready for blasts from past Euro tournaments! Our coverage is brought to you by Pepsi.

Sometimes, some games are best looked at through the eyes of certain players. For example, in our last throwback, we looked at the Euro 2000 semi between Portugal and France through the lens of the eccentric Abel Xavier.

The winners of Euro 1988, the Netherlands, had a star-studded cast, but it is Marco Van Basten whose kaleidoscope we'll use this time.

Van Basten had just returned from a wretched season. Having had a debut season with AC Milan blighted all through by an ankle injury, many questioned why Rinus Michels (below) had chosen him. As usual, Michels - who was rarely wrong in his managerial career - was proved right. And spectacularly so.

But no one changes a winning team, and because Jacobus Bosman had been key upfront for the Dutch throughout the qualifers (he scored four, Marco got two), Rinus made the Ajax man his preferred striker.

Van Basten later said: "It was not a big problem for me to sit it out. I was not in good shape. I had no reason to think that I should be among the first XI. I was just watching and learning and waiting for the moment when I got my chance."

He had to sit out the first game as the Netherlands lost 1-0 to the USSR. But in the second game with England, Michels gambled with the then 23-year old in the starting lineup. His hattrick ensured that Bosman was instantly relegated to the bench as Oranje won 3-1. " I had a difficult year with lot of injury problems," he noted later. "From that moment everything changed and everything went positive. I scored three goals and we won an exciting match against England. Afterwards, the other matches were easier and everything went well. "

After beating the Republic of Ireland 1-0 in the next match, the Netherlands reached the semi to face West Germany.

Lotthar Matthaus' 55th minute goal was cancelled by Ronald Koeman, and then Van Basten buried the tie with two minutes remaining. The hype machine on Van Basten was approaching overdrive. But he had something else in store. One more game to show his magic.

USSR had reached this point by drawing the Republic of Ireland (after beating the Dutch in their opening game), and beating a hapless England 3-1. They had then dispatched a solid but youthful Italian team 2-0 (including Gianluca Vialli, Paolo Maldini and the two Giuseppes - Bergomi and Giannini), as two goals in five second-half minutes sent the Soviet Union through to their fourth European Championship final.

And that's how the Red Army met Oranje met in the final in Munich. How did the Dutch feel? "In the beginning we were afraid of losing and not being able to perform well; in the end we had confidence, which is very important in a tournament like that," says Van Basten.

This final was full of star quality. This match meant a lot for the Soviets.

After failing to qualify for three consecutive Euros (1976, 1980, 1984), the Soviets managed to qualify for this one. And it was the last time the Soviet Union national football team took part in the European Football Championship due to the signs all around that the fall of communism was near.

So they had to go out in style.
A golden generation of Dynamo Kiev players that included Ukraine's Euro 2012 boss Oleg Blokhin, Vasily Rats, Alexei Mikhailichenko and Igor Belanov formed the core. And it also helped that they were coached by the legendary coach Valery Lobanovsky, who was also coach of Dynamo, who were one of the best teams in European club football.

At the time, the Soviet football league, run by communists who saw football as a propaganda tool, ensured they had competitive players.

The final started with a Soviet chance that should have been buried, but Gennadiy Litovchenko shot straight at the Dutch keeper Hans van Breukelen. The Dutch scored two minutes later, through Ruud Gullit's bullet header past Rinat Dasayev.

And then came THE moment.The goal that came to define Euro 88. In his own words: "It was in the second half and I was a little tired. The ball came from Arnold Muhren and I was thinking, OK, I can stop it and do things with all these defensive players or I could do it the more easy way, take a risk and shoot. You know, you need a lot of luck with a shot like that. Everything went well. It is one of those things that sometimes just happens. You try to do it, but you need so much luck and at that moment it was given to me, to do it at the right time."

He goes on: "I can tell a lot of stories, but it was just a fantastic feeling. I have to be happy and thankful that such a moment was given to me and to Holland. That was the moment where we could say: "It is 2-0, we can win this game." But the excitement about the goal, I did not really understand it and what I did. You can also see that in my reaction. I am asking: "What is happening?"

The Dutch held on, and won. But what is often not mentioned is that the Russians had a penalty, which 1986 Footballer of the Year Igor Belanov failed to convert.

And that's how the Dutch, berated for their choking ability for so long, finally won something, banishing the memories of the gifted 1974 World Cup side that could not win.

VIDEO:

DID YOU KNOW?
This European Championship turned out to be the first major tournament where no red cards were shown, there were no scoreless draws, and none of the matches went into extra time.

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When Germany broke English hearts at Euro 1996
When Denmark stunned the world to win Euro 1992
When Zidane led France to edge Figo's Portugal at Euro 2000

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Story by Ghana/Joy Sports/Gary Al-Smith