EURO HISTORY Best performance: Winners 1988 Tournament flashback Recent performances: 1980 R1 1984 Did not qualify 1988 Winners 1992 SF 1996 QF 2000 SF

The Dutch got off to a terrible start when they were beaten by Russia in a game Marco van Basten did not start.

But his lively appearance from the bench booked his place in the side against England, in which he grabbed a memorable hat-trick.

The Dutch reached the last four with a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland.

In the semi-final Holland surprised hosts West Germany with two late goals from Ronald Koeman and a strike from Van Basten to set up a rematch with the Soviet Union.

This time Dutch class told and a header from Ruud Gullit and a wonder volley from Van Basten proved too much for the Soviet Union.

In 1992 and 2000, Holland reached the semi-finals.

In Sweden in 1992 the Dutch had been expected to beat Denmark, but the game went to penalties and the Danes won 5-4.

Eight years later Holland jointly hosted the tournament with Belgium and a 6-1 demolition of Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals suggested the Dutch were capable of going all the way.

But in the semi-finals Holland came up against a typically gritty Italian side, who muscled their way into the final after penalties.

Even so Holland contributed hugely to their own demise, missing two penalties in normal time.

The Dutch played against 10 men for over an hour following Gianluca Zambrotta's first-half red card, but failed to kill off an Italian side who simply suffocated the hosts into submission.

And just as they had done against Brazil in the 1988 World Cup semi-final, the Dutch choked when the game went to penalties, failing to convert three in the shoot-out as Dino Zoff's side progressed to the final against France.