Germany and Netherlands football rivalry

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The Netherlands national football team has rivalry with the Germany national football team that dates back to the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where the Netherlands lost to Germany in the final despite being favoured.

In the semifinal of the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship, played in Hamburg, Germany, Marco van Basten slid the winning goal in the last minute past the German keeper. After the game Ronald Koeman of the Netherlands pretended to wipe his backside with Olaf Thon's jersey, something he regretted later which caused relations to worsen between the two sides. Many Dutch fans celebrated, singing "In 1940 they came - in 1988 we came".

There was also the game in the Round of 16 in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where the Netherlands' Frank Rijkaard spat a number of times on Rudi Völler, with Voller being accused of diving. Both players being send off. Germany went on to claim victory thanks to Jürgen Klinsmann and Andreas Brehme's goals^[1], and eventually became World Champions.

When the Dutch failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, Germans fans often rejoiced with singing "Without Holland we're going to the World Cup". In the 2006 World Cup documentary Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen, the early elimination of the Dutch team is illustrated by showing an Autobahn sign "Netherlands, exit right".

[edit] Notable matches

Friendly match, 1956, first match between the two teams since World War II

March 14, 1956	West Germany	1–2	Netherlands	Düsseldorf, Rheinstadion Attendance: 39,000 Referee: Reginald Leafe (England)
	Van der Hart 77' o.g.		Lenstra 52', 72'

Final, 1974 FIFA World Cup

July 7, 1974 16:00	Netherlands	1–2	West Germany	Munich, Olympiastadion Attendance: 75,200 Referee: Jack Taylor (England)
	Neeskens 2' pen		Breitner 25' pen Müller 43'

Second group stage, 1978 FIFA World Cup

June 18, 1978 16:45	West Germany	2–2	Netherlands	Córdoba, Estadio Chateau Carreras Ref: Gordon (Scotland) Attendance: 25,050
	Abramczik 3' D. Müller 70'	(Report)	Haan 27' R. van de Kerkhof 84'

Semi Final, Euro 88

June 21, 1988	West Germany	1–2	Netherlands	Volksparkstadion, Hamburg Attendance:61,330 Referee:Ioan Igna (Romania)
	Matthäus (p) 55'		R. Koeman (p) 74' van Basten 88'

Second round, 1990 FIFA World Cup

June 24, 1990 21:00	West Germany	2–1	Netherlands	Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Ref: Juan Loustau (Argentina) Attendance: 74,559
	Klinsmann 51' Brehme 82'		R. Koeman 89' pen

Group stages Euro 1992

June 18, 1992	Netherlands	3–1	Germany	Nya Ullevi, Göteborg Ref: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy) Attendance: 37,725
	Rijkaard 4' Witschge 15' Bergkamp 72'		Klinsmann 53'

Group stages Euro 2004

June 15, 2004	Netherlands	1–1	Germany	Estádio do Dragão, Porto Ref: Anders Frisk (Sweden) Attendance: 48,197
	Van Nistelrooy 81'		Frings '31

[edit] Literature

Hesse-Lichtenberger, Ulrich (2003). Tor! The Story of German Football. WSC Books. ISBN 095401345X.
Schiweck, Ingo (2006). Kicken beim Feind? - Der ganz alltägliche Friede hinter dem deutsch-niederländischen Fußballkrieg. Düsseldorf: MaveriX. ISBN ISBN 978-3-9810957-4-6.
Winner, David. Brilliant Orange.
Houtum, Henk van; Frank van Dam (2002). "Topophilia or Topoporno? Patriotic Place Attachment in International Football Derbies". International Social Science Review 3 (2): 231–248.