Classic Euro Moments: Marco van Basten’s Euro ‘88 Volley

With Euro 2008 just beginning to appear on the horizon, we’re going to start picking out some great moments from European Championships history. And what better way to start than with Marco van Basten’s goal from 20 years ago. It was the 54th minute of Netherlands vs USSR in the Euro ‘88 final in the Munich Olympic Stadium, West Germany, with the Dutch already leading 1-0 through a Ruud Gullit goal.

When Arnold Muhren’s deep, high cross comes in from the left it looks like Van Basten doesn’t have the angle to score. But he does anyway, with this magnificent volley. The technique just looks perfect, the way he waits and waits and waits for the ball to drop to drop and hits a dipping volley into the far top corner. That made it 2-0 and secured the Netherlands’ first (and so far only) major international title. Van Basten also finished the tournament as top scorer with five goals.