"What happened?": England at Euro 88

Three games and three defeats. Those words instantly give the impression of calamitous mediocrity but there was a lot more to it than that, it seemed as it if it could go wrong, it went wrong for Bobby Robson's Three Lions.



England's tournament gets underway against
the Republic of Ireland, it wasn't long before smiles turned to frowns

All too often in football, players and teams alike are quickly judged by some on one infamous performance, and with England this happens frequently. After Italia 90 and Euro 96, the Three Lions were hailed as national heroes, despite the fact when one thinks about it, they only really played well against the Dutch and the Germans in both tournaments. Then there was Euro 88, perhaps their most notorious blunder since their debut in an international tournament at the 1950 World Cup, and their defeat at the hands of the United States. Qualification for the finals in West Germany had seen England drop just a single point, a goalless draw with Turkey, which was subsequently followed by defeating them 8-0 at Wembley. Furthermore, they conceded just one goal throughout the entire process, coming against Yugoslavia in a 4-1 win. No-one laughed when England were tipped as one of the tournament's heavyweights, but they returned with the image of Grade A villains.

What should of been a success in the eyes of many fans and the players, the tournament instead produced what first appears to be disastrous turn of events, the figures say it all. Three losses, two goals scored and seven conceded. However we should stop for a moment and take into account some points of consideration. The first game against the Republic of Ireland saw England fall victim to a shock deficit, and struggle to recover. The second game against the Netherlands was an excellent contest, England were taken aback by the phenomenal talent of Marco van Basten. Finally, the third game against the Soviet Union featured an England side, already mathematically eliminated, turn up with the desire to just go home.

In fairness, they were perhaps overconfident going into the first game, being too dependent on Bryan Robson and Gary Lineker for goals. Hardly surprising as Lineker was top scorer at the 1986 World Cup with 6 goals, moreover the Barcelona striker had scored the most goals in their Euro 88 qualification group. While Robson had scored 21 goals prior to the finals, coupled with Lineker's 26, England probably assumed they were guaranteed victory, and those watching could put their mortgage on a Lineker or Robson goal.

Their defence was also suspect, Terry Butcher, a very reassuring defender missed the tournament through injury. The young pair of Mark Wright and Tony Adams made up the centre-back partnership, with Adams claiming he felt lost without Butcher's presence. Des Walker would not receive his first England cap until after the finals. The relatively inexperienced at international level, Dave Watson made it into the squad but found himself in unfamiliar territory.



Ray Houghton celebrates his
match winning goal for Ireland

Nevertheless, England's first game kicked off on 12 June 1988 in Stuttgart. Nothing much was expected of Jack Charlton's Irish side but they came out determined. So much so, that England were completely taken by surprise when Ray Houghton opened the score in the sixth minute following a poor clearance attempt by Kenny Sansom. John Aldridge won a header for Ray Houghton to nod the ball past Peter Shilton. By the time the first 45 minutes were up, England had not fully recovered from shell shock.

In the second half however, England came back stronger and did everything except one crucial thing, score a goal. Gary Lineker missed enough chances to earn the title of Euro 88's top scorer in 45 minutes after Ireland's keeper Packie Bonner played like a man possessed. Lineker's uncharacteristic sloppy performance emphasised the fact that this was just not England's day. It was later established that Lineker had been diagnosed with hepatitis B. The Irish nearly found themselves two goals up when a shot from Ronnie Whelan hit the cross bar. But it could not be denied that England outplayed the Irish in the second half. In essence the result mirrored that of an FA Cup shock, where the losing side does not usually play a bad game, but rather just comes out on the wrong side of the score line.

Bryan Robson scores the equaliser
against the Netherlands

England were down but not out, their next game was against the Netherlands, who had also suffered a defeat in their first game against the Soviet Union. Many fans back at home skived off work to see the real England turn up against the Dutch in Dusseldorf on 15 June. They played well in the first half and were unlucky not to find the target. Gary Lineker had a shot come off the woodwork and Glenn Hoddle's free kick hit the cross bar. Low and behold, it was the Dutch who were ahead as the half time whistle blew, van Basten scoring in the 44th minute. This time, England hit back with Lineker and Bryan Robson exchanging one-two passes, allowing Robson to burst into the box and lift the ball over Hans van Breukelen after 53 minutes. Thereafter, it was an incredibly close game, until talismanic van Basten turned Tony Adams inside out to finish from 18 yards after 71 minutes. Four minutes later he scored again from close range, ruining Peter Shilton's 100th England appearance and ensuring a second defeat for England.

Only this time the defeat was twice as painful, as the news came in that the game between the Republic of Ireland and the Soviet Union had ended in a 1-1 draw, England were now out of the tournament.Cue the torture from the press.

In Frankfurt on 18 June, England were comprehensively thrashed by the Soviet Union in the third game, and they obviously could not wait for the final whistle to go. After just 3 minutes, Glenn Hoddle's mistake gifted the Soviets an early lead, Sergei Aleinikov beating Chris Woods and scoring the opener. Tony Adams equalised after 16 minutes but just before the half-hour mark the Soviets were back in front thanks to a goal from Alexei Mikhailichenko. 17 minutes from time, Viktor Pasulko put the USSR 3-1 ahead and rubbed more salt into England's wounds. The Soviet Union topped the group while England headed for home rock bottom and pointless.

So the fans were incensed at the Three Lions' performance. Bobby Robson submitted his resignation, just as further vilification arrived following an insipid 1-1 draw in a friendly with Saudi Arabia, spawning the infamous headline: "In the name of Allah, go!"

Robson's resignation was denied, at the time Brian Clough was hailed as his successor but he was unpopular with the FA. England's fortunes turned around as they qualified for Italia 90 without conceding a goal, and we all know what happened next. Because of that, Bobby Robson is fondly remembered. Euro 88? Well that was just a blip.