Jack Charlton's side, making their bow in the finals, had cause to feel aggrieved. Indeed, they had come closest to scoring in Gelsenkirchen from their only corner of the match. Paul McGrath rose majestically above the defence and headed the ball firmly down against the base of the post. A last ditch intervention by Gerald Vanenburgh prevented the ball spinning over the goal line.
McGrath was imperious, a colossus with bad knees. Injury to right-back Chris Morris forced him to vacate his midfield berth for this game as cover but he was as influential as ever – at both ends. He did not deserve to be a footnote for the winner, as with desperate Dutch pressure mounting it was his header that Ronald Koeman unintentionally turned towards Kieft.