Relations between Holland and Germany may have eased but the fixture still bears a unique resonance for both sides
If there is a feeling of anxiety among the Oranje, it is understandable. Denmark, after all, were supposed to be the easy one. The consequences of a hair‑tearing defeat in their Group B opener have radically altered the mood. People who had hoped Holland were on the verge of scaling the heights now recognise they are walking a tightrope over a fall too unbearable to contemplate. Not the ideal circumstances leading into a rendezvous with Germany.
On pure footballing reasons alone, Holland have plenty on their plate. Having been rumbled by the Danes, the critics have been vocal, with two of the biggest stars, Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben, singled out for particular sharpness. The clamour for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar tightens the mood. This is the backdrop for a fixture that stood out from the start anyway. The rivalry between Holland and Germany may have toned down in recent years but it remains a fixture loaded with history, both sporting and otherwise. Franz Beckenbauer defined its particular nature as "matches which always breathed football of class, emotion and unprecedented tension".
The origins of this rivalry go back to the second world war, and the anti-German sentiment that was created by the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The feeling was famously articulated by Wim van Hanegem, the midfielder from Holland's 1970s vintage, who openly expressed his hatred of Germans when West Germany met Holland in the 1974 World Cup final, their first competitive match since liberation. Van Hanegem had lost his father and siblings during the war. "I don't like Germans. Every time I played against German players I had a problem because of the war," he said. After Holland lost the final, Van Hanegem left the field in tears. The West Germany defender Berti Vogts remembers how Johan Cruyff would not shake his hand, although some years later he apologised.
Even in Holland's greatest moment of triumph over their neighbours, with an 88th minute semi-final winner in the 1988 European Championship, a tournament that was held on German soil, an infamous banner was unfurled in Hamburg. "Oma wij hebben je fiets gevonden." Grandma we've found your bicycle. It was heavily symbolic, referencing the bicycles that were confiscated by the Nazis. The Dutch went on to win the final, but Hamburg '88 is the mythical moment. As the coach Rinus Michels put it: "We all know that the semi-final was the real final." The third significant signpost in this rivalry came two years later, at the 1990 World Cup, when Frank Rijkaard spat in Rudi Völler's hair and in the subsequent brouhaha both players were sent off. It was symptomatic of the friction that up to this point was a compulsory ingredient in this fixture.
More recently, there has been less acrimony, less brazen antagonism. As the German team reinvented itself, moving away from the old Teutonic stereotypes both in terms of the players (the inclusion of the likes of Jérôme Boateng, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, with Ghanaian, Tunisian and Turkish roots reflects a completely different image to the likes of Lothar Matthäus, Andreas Möller or Harald Schumacher) and in terms of the style of play (more vivacious than the solid model of old) so traditional opponents have been forced into a rethink. Back at the 1974 final, Holland's grievances were enhanced by the fact that they were the avant-garde, adventurous team, while West Germany were conservative. Today the Dutch approve of the style which has evolved under Joachim Löw, and there is a grudging respect.
There has been work done away from the pitch with government campaigns to improve relations, particularly around the border towns where trouble used to flare up. There was a deliberate attempt to increase awareness, and schools in that area played mini international football matches. The amount of Dutch players who play in the Bundesilga has also been a positive factor.
Michael Wulzinger, a correspondent for Der Speigel, thinks the change coincided with a period where Germany endured a bad period results-wise and had to rebuild. "In the 1990s Germany lost importance, and was not the born enemy any more," he suggests. "During the period between Euro '96 and the World Cup in 2006 Germany were of second‑class standard in European football. So the rivalry was descending. Plus many Dutch players came to Germany to play in the Bundesliga. There was some normality growing. In general, relations between players are almost normal. It is something like a relief that it is just a sport rivalry without a second meaning now."
Bastian Schweinsteiger echoes that view. "I don't feel any rivalry, I just feel we are playing a game against a very good team," he says. "I don't think the situations of the past play any role really."
It seems countries with a historical opposition to Germany have softened their opinions on the current generation. "The Germany team of the 1970s were not admired as it was 30 years after the war," says Wulzinger. "The image was too close to this cruel Germany. In France, England, the Netherlands, everywhere, even if those players had nothing to do with the horrors of Nazi Germany, it was not possible for them to be admired. Now, 60 years after the war the players represent a modern, diverse and multicultural country. And the style of play is not what you think of as typical German. This is the first time people outside of Germany admire the team. If you speak to the likes of Philipp Lahm, one of most intelligent of the players, they know they are representing a new side of Germany. They feel it."
The Dutch are not quite so willing to let go of history altogether. As Dirk Kuyt says: "I have been brought up knowing the importance of Holland against Germany. Everybody can remember the previous matches, like in 1988 and 1990. They have become a part of history and I think the match this Wednesday will do too."
For Holland's sake, it really needs to be a victory to add to the ongoing if changing narrative. Read More
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