They say there is no substitute for experience and there have been times in UEFA European Championship history when this has proved the case – the prime example being Arnold Mühren, who provided the cross for Marco van Basten’s astonishing top-spin volley in the 1988 final against the Soviet Union. He was 37 years and 23 days old at the time, setting a record for the oldest player to pick up a winners’ medal.
Muhren was fortunate because not all players can bow out in a blaze of glory. Germany duo Lothar Matthäus and Jens Lehmann set their own records on their final international appearances but while the latter had to settle for a runners-up medal in 2008, the former suffered e…