June 25, 1988: The Dutch Win a Tournament At Last

Ruud Gullit

June 25, 1988: The Netherlands defeats the Soviet Union, 2–0, to win the Final of Euro 88 at the Olympiastadion in Munich -- having already beaten West Germany, the hosts and their arch-rivals, in the Semifinal.

Rinus Michels, who had built the Totalvoetball (Total Football) system at AFC Ajax in Amsterdam in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was their manager, as he had been at the 1974 World Cup.

Forwards Ruud Gullit, their Captain, and Marco van Basten, then both of AC Milan, scored the goals. The team also featured Milan centerback Frank Rijkaard. van Basten, Rijkaard and Vanenburg had previously played for Ajax. Midfielders Jan Wouters and Arnold Mühren were currently with Ajax.

From the PSV Eindhoven team that had just won the 1988 European Cup, making them, through the 2021-22 season, the only Dutch team to win a European Treble (Eredivisie, KNVB Beker, European Cup/UEFA Champions League), came goalkeeper Hans van Breuekelen, right back Berry van Aerle, centerback Ronald Koeman, and midfielder Gerald Vanenburg. Left back Adrianus "Adri" van Tiggelen played for Belgian team Anderlecht. Midfielder Erwin Koeman, Ron's brother, played for Belgian team Mechelen.

Gullit had previously played for Feyenoord and PSV. He and Erwin Koeman had previously played for PSV. Ron Koeman had previously played for Ajax, and would go on to play for Feyenoord, the only one of these to play for all of the Eredivisie's Big 3. van Tiggelen and Wouters later played for PSV.

Never has a sports team looked so good for their style -- while, at the same time, looking so bad for their uniforms.

Incredibly, for all their talent over the years, this is the one and only major tournament the Dutch have ever won. The fact that they won it in the same stadium where they'd lost the World Cup Final, 14 years earlier, made it even sweeter.

The Soviet Union would soon break up, and no country that was once a part of it has ever come close again, unless you want to count Russia reaching the Semifinal of Euro 2008.

*

June 25, 1988 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Tommy John, age 45, outpitched Greg Swindell, for the 282nd win of his career. Jack Clark, in his 1 season with the Yankees, hit a home run. Dave Winfield went 3-for-4. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4. Rickey Henderson was injured and did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Cubs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win it.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 5-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Barry Bonds went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Tom Glavine started for the Braves, but Charlie Puleo won the game in relief. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Sox scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken both homered for the O's.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 10-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Robin Yount went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Paul Molitor was injured and did not play.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. George Brett did not play.

May 24, 1989: Totalvoetbaal + Catenaccio = Campeoni

Ruud Gullit raises the Cup

May 24, 1989: AC Milan defeat Steaua București, 4-0, to win the European Cup at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. The Rossoneri's Dutch connection does the business against the champions of Romania, as Marco van Basten and the dreadlocked Surinamese, Ruud Gullit, each score twice.

Managed by Arrigo Sacchi, Milan would win the Cup again the next year -- and any Arsenal fan who thinks the Gunners would have beaten them if the Heysel ban hadn't been in effect is kidding himself. With van Basten, Gullit, and the other Dutch/Surinamese star, Frank Rijkaard; a defensive set of captain Franco Baresi, future captain Paolo Maldini, Mauro Tassotti and Alessandro Costacurta; and midfielders Roberto Donadoni and Carlo Ancelotti, the 1989 & '90 Milan team might just might have been the best club team in soccer history.

It was basically a combination of the Dutch idea of Totalvoetbaal, or "Total Football," in which positions became virtually meaningless, allowing for greater offensive creativity as shown by AFC Ajax of Amsterdam in the early 1970s; and the Italian defensive idea of Catenaccio, or "Padlock," a defense-first philosophy exemplified by AC Milan's rivals, Internazionale Milano, in the mid-1960s. So Totalvoetbaal plus Catenaccio equalled Campeoni di Europa: Champions of Europe.

AC Milan had previously combined a Catenaccio idea with a strong attack, and won the European Cup in 1963 and 1969, in the latter defeating Ajax, still on the rise by not quite there yet, still working out the kinks to become, along with the 1989 and '90 Milan squad, one of the best club teams of all time.

van Basten and Rijkaard had played together on Ajax's Eredivisie (Dutch league) winners of 1982, '83 and '85, while Gullit had played for their arch-rivals, Feyenoord of Rotterdam, winning that league in 1984. As with the Netherlands team that reached the 1974 World Cup Final, Sacchi had proven that Ajax and Feyenoord stars could work well together.

Speaking of Ancelotti, May 24 must be a good day for him: On that date in 2022, he managed Real Madrid to win the European Cup under the tournament's successor name, the UEFA Champions League. "Carletto," the man with the greatest-ever raised left eyebrow (Leonard Nimoy has the best on the right side), had previously managed Milan to the CL in 2003 and '07. His win tied Bob Paisley, Liverpool manager of 1977, '78 and '81, and Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid manager of 2016, '17 and '18, as the only men to manage 3 European Cup winners.

Two nights after this game, Liverpool would host Arsenal, with the title of England's Football League on the line. It was up for grabs then.

*

May 24, 1989 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were in progress, but no games were played on the night. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 5 and 6. In Game 6, the Calgary Flames clinched, beating the Montreal Canadiens.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 11-4 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Abbott, later to be a good pickup for the Yankees, outpitched Richard Dotson, who the Yankees thought would be a good pickup for them, but wasn't. Lance Parrish and future Yankee Charles "Chili" Davis hit home runs for the Halos. Don Mattingly went 4-for-5 with a solo home run. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Dave Winfield missed the entire season with a back injury.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 3-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Ron Darling pitched 6 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and Rick Aguilera completed an 8-hit shutout, outpitching Bruce Hurst. Mark Carreon and Kevin McReynolds hit home runs. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mike Boddicker outpitched Erik Hanson. Wade Boggs went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. For the M's, Rookie Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Glenn Wilson doubled home the winning runs in the top of the 14th inning. Barry Bonds went 0-for-6.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Four days later, the Jays played their last game at "The X," and moved into the SkyDome, later renamed the Rogers Centre.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Lou Whitaker singled Gary Pettis home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Jay Tibbs pitched 6 innings of 7-hit shutout ball, and Mark Williamson finished an 8-hit shutout. Mickey Tettleton hit a home run. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 0-for-4. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. George Brett did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Eddie Murray went 0-for-3 for the Dodgers. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4. Five days later, frustrated at batting only .203 at age 38, the greatest 3rd baseman of all time retired, with 548 home runs, 10 Gold Gloves, and 3 National League Most Valuable Player awards.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Kevin Gross pitched a 5-hit shutout.