Notes from NE Lincs

With the semi-final of Euro 2024 taking place between England the Netherlands later today, it seemed apt to look back on two titanic tussles between the two nations at previous European Championships – two games that shaped my football fandom.

Some of my earliest memories are of the 1986 World Cup. Not necessarily around England games, only by circumstance – more to do with Diego Maradona darting around our little TV screen and the aftermath of the Hand of God.

But by the time Euro 1988 rolled around, I was fully onboard the Three Lions’ bandwagon. Weekly devourings of Shoot and Match saw to that. The Euros was a lot different back then too. Eight of the elite teams. England – World Cup quarter finalists were drawn in a group with the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, and the USSR. There seemed like there was a great chance to progress.

Or at least you would think! The tournament was held in West Germany, which meant the games were on at agreeable times to watch as a young child. The first game of the group against the Irish was one to forget. A 1-0 Sunday lunchtime defeat to a team that to the untrained eye seemed to be full of players who weren’t good enough to make the England side – how wrong could you be?!

Van Basten masterclass

Still the optimism remained for the game against the Dutch. I remember rushing home from school to watch a Wednesday teatime kick-off and being taken aback by the Orange Wall. Inevitably when teams head to a tournament, there’s some of the world’s best players on display. Most of the top teams will have someone who is considered ‘world class’. On very rare occasions, some teams will have more than one world class player in their ranks. The Dutch fit this bill, I just didn’t know it yet!

If England could have made half-time level then perhaps the game would have panned out differently. They didn’t. Marco van Basten swept home a 44th minute goal from a corner and it was an uphill task from there. To credit England, they fought back at the start of the second half. Bryan Robson equalising with a trademark run from deep and tenacious finish past the Dutch goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen.

The Dutch responded by stepping up a gear or six. With Ronald Koeman spraying the ball around the pitch like a PGA golfer, and Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit pulling the strings in midfield, van Basten helped himself to a hat-trick – it could have been more. I slunk deeper and deeper into the sofa. This was my second real experience of England failure but it felt worse than the Irish game, which I put down to an off-day, the Three Lions were completely outclassed by the Dutch. In fact, the only saving grace on the afternoon was that the classic English shirt was far superior to the woeful number the Dutch were sporting.

Since that day I have had a soft spot for the Milan trio and consider van Basten the second greatest striker I have seen (behind the Brazilian Ronaldo). It was no surprise that the Netherlands went onto win the tournament. I didn’t even watch England’s last group game against the USSR, and instead opted for the Dutch and the Irish.

One of England’s greatest ever performances

Jumping forward eight years and the Euros were now expanded to 16 teams and being held in England. It seemed everyone had Euros fever and it was a great festival of football.

As hosts, there were high hopes that England could repeat their victory on home soil in the 1966 World Cup. Three Lions topped the charts and seemed to be on the school bus radio constantly. But after less than convincing performances against Switzerland and Scotland, England needed a statement (and a result) to confirm qualification for the knockout stages.

There was something different about England on that hot June night. Chests puffed out, belting out the National Anthem, there was a swagger and a confidence that I don’t think England had had before in my lifetime, nor since. It was almost like ‘this is our house’ and the Dutch could not cope.

Alan Shearer’s early penalty set Terry Veneables’ side on their way but nothing could have prepared England fans for the 10-minute salvo at the start of the second half, so who knows what the Dutch must have thought!

That ten minutes with a double from Teddy Sheringham, and another from Shearer, is in my opinion the pinnacle of the English game in my time watching the Three Lions. Forget the 5-1 in Germany and forget the fact this was at Wembley. Leading a very capable Holland side 4-0 at Wembley after just over an hour is the very best we’ve produced in 50 years, and it meant something – it was in a major tournament.

Even the late consolation for the Dutch through Patrick Kluivert had its uses, denying the Scots any hope of progressing in the tournament. Whenever England take to the field in a major finals, I hark back to that night in June 1996 – will we ever turn in a performance like that again? Tonight would be a good time to do it.