Rinus Michels led the Netherlands national team to its only major international trophy, the 1988 UEFA European Championship.
Michels returned to coach the Netherlands at Euro 1988 in West Germany. The tournament began badly when the Dutch lost 1–0 to the Soviet Union, but they recovered by beating England 3–1 and the Republic of Ireland 1–0. In the semifinal, Marco van Basten scored late against host nation West Germany to send the Netherlands into its first European Championship final.
The Netherlands defeated the Soviet Union 2–0 in Munich on June 25, 1988. Ruud Gullit opened the scoring with a header, and Van Basten added one of football’s most celebrated goals: a difficult volley from the right side of the penalty area. Michels is also strongly associated with “Total Football” and had previously coached the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup final. The common mix-up is Johan Cruyff, a Dutch icon who was not the manager of the 1988 championship team.