When the Dutch national football team painted the continent orange in 1988, Europe was already looking forward to a brighter future.
In 1974, the greatest Dutch team of all time had been beaten by West Germany in the World Cup Final in Munich. Fourteen years later, they returned to Germany under the same coach, Rinus Michels, and won the European Championships. To this day it remains their only major title, yet it is not so much the final that everyone remembers as the semi-final. The cathartic victory over the Germans in Hamburg was worth more than the trophy. It was revenge.
This is a story from our latest magazine on sports which explores if when the Dutch national football team painted the continent orange in 1988, Europe was already looking forward to a brighter future.