England eliminated

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 24

England eliminated

NZPA-Reuter Duesseldorf, West Germany England joined Denmark on the sidelines of the European soccer championship on Wednesday, eliminated before even playing their final group match. ’ England, Europe’s highestscoring team in the qualifying matches, slumped to their second successive defeat, beaten 3-1 by the Netherlands thanks to a hat-trick by the striker, Marco van Basten.

Ireland, the surprise winners over England last Sunday, then drew 1-1 with the Soviet Union to ensure England’s exit. The outcome extended Ireland’s unbeaten run to 12 games.

The Irish went ahead through a spectacular volley by Ronnie Whelan and looked set for their second upset victory, a result which ironically would neither have guaranteed Ireland a place in the semifinals nor definitely have put England out. But Oleg Protasov equalised 15 minutes from time, leaving Ireland and the Soviet Union tied on three points at the top of group two. The Netherlands has two points and England none, with the final group games tomorrow pitting Ireland against the Netherlands and the Soviet Union against England. The Russians’ joy at their strong position, favourites to

take one of the group two semifinal places, was marred by an injury to their goalkeeper, Rinat Dasayev, who hobbled off in the second half. The injury was serious enough for the Soviet team to consider asking to be allowed to add another goalkeeper to their squad — a contingency foreseen in the championship rules. Van Basten’s three goals were the first multiple score by a player in the finals — a competition which so far has seen 16 goals in eight matches. ■ Michel Platini achieved the feat twice as France lifted the crown in 1984.