13th June, 2012
The rivalry between Netherlands and Germany was perhaps summed up best by Rinus Michels, the great Dutch manager, when he said “football is war”.
At times over the past four decades, the line between metaphor and reality has become blurred when these teams have met.
There have been volatile flare-ups, outrageous moments of brilliance and historic matches. Old wounds have begun to heal but the scars remain.
Today, the teams meet again in their second matches of Group B at Euro 2012. This was always destined to be more than a game, even before the Dutch lost to Denmark in their opening match on Saturday.
If this titanic encounter needed added significance, it has got it now. Defeat by Germany on Wednesday would almost certainly see Netherlands knocked out of a tournament many predicated they would win.
“Germany versus Netherlands will always be a special game,” Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk said. “But now we just have to beat them. It’s not going to be easy.”
Former Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer was a central figure when the rivalry erupted in the 1970s. He describes the games as “football in its purest form”.
“Matches against Holland have cost me years of my life,” he said. “But I wouldn’t have missed them for anything. Those matches always breathed football of class, emotion and unprecedented tension.”
Germany have never regarded the fixture with the same intensity as the Dutch. As with many other ‘big versus small country’ feuds, the enmity is felt more by the smaller nation.
“Why do we feel differently to the Dutch? It’s like England v Scotland, with us as England,” was how Germany players and manager Berti Vogts put it.
Patrick Kluivert grew up watching the rivalry develop. While the former Ajax and Barcelona striker admits tensions have cooled, he told BBC Sport the significance of the match remains.
“It is about history,” he said. “On the field we have respect for each other now – that wasn’t always the case.
“The rivalry will last forever and to a certain point that is good. But the most important thing on the field is that the players play a good, fair game with respect for each other. It is now about the football.”
The depth of feeling in the Netherlands remains. The Dutch still have 18 permanent museum exhibitions outlining the details of their football history with Germany.
Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy says the rivalry is about more than that. Netherlands declared itself independent in the war – but Germany invaded in May 1940.
Van Nistelrooy said: “It’s hard to take the emotion out of this game but whichever side does this best has a big chance.
“Obviously, history plays a part, football history and history itself. That’s why the fixture is so loaded. It’s about 60 years now [since the second world war] and that’s it. You don’t have to make it bigger than it is. The emotions are high but this is about winning a game.”