Euro 1988 is remembered by most football fans for many different reasons. The magnificent French side of 1984, led by a footballing genius Michel Platini, became only the third team in the history of the European Championship to fail to even attempt to defend their crown, as Les Bleus failed to qualify for the 1988 edition held in West Germany.

Ronald Koeman and the Milan trio Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten were the household names of this Dutch team. However, the likes of Hans van Breukelen and Berry van Aerle, who had just won the European Cup with PSV Eindhoven a few weeks before Euro 88, and the Ajax trio Jan Wouters, John van ‘t Schip and Arnold Muhren were also indispensable for the Netherlands to achieve what they had set out to prior to the tournament.