In European footballing context, Germany vs Holland is as fierce & intense as sporting rivalries can get amongst geographical neighbours (as intense if not more than Australia vs New Zealand if you are not too familiar with football traditions)
Those of you who know me well, would be familiar with my childhood story of how I stumbled across & became a life long Bayern Munich & Germany fan. It all started with the intense & closely watched Germany vs Holland World Cup final in 1974.
Here's my story & how Holland & my Dad's broken promise made me a life long Germany & Bayern fan! I am posting this because Holland & Germany are about to lock horns on Thursday morning at Euro 2012:
At the time, before the start of the 1974 World Cup, as a 7 year old, I was hardly aware of the intense sporting rivalry between these two European neighbours & the fact that it had its roots not only in football but also in the generational issues following the disaster that was WW2.
Holland by 1974, led by Johan Cruyff were considered to be playing what was coined as "Total Football" & Ajax of Amsterdam had won the (then) European Cup, the premier club competition in the world (now Champions League) in 3 successive occasions in 1971-72 & 73.
This period was the first time football in Holland had moved out of the shadows of its fierce rival Germany & Holland were now the popular favourites to win the World Cup, which was being held in Germany in 1974. The football supporters in Holland, and indeed across Europe, were still the first post WW2 generation & as such resented Germany intensely.
As an impressionable child, I decided to support Germany purely due to a football related resentment towards my father & older brother! Despite having no intention to do so, my Dad had promised to take me to a World Cup qualifier match in 1973 & did not end up keeping his promise (as he had deemed I was too young to handle the crowded stadium).
By the time the World Cup started, my Dad & brother were like many others around the world, cheering Holland on. But I was still intensely resentful towards them for breaking a promise & decided to support (and hope) Germany would beat Holland in the final!
And to my amazement they did! Revenge was sweet! Germany won 2-1 & lifted the trophy in the home soil. The intense rivalry intensified immensely after the final & has never abated to this date (although politically the two countries are now very strong & friendly allies)
What I came to realise after the final as I started to explore football with all the curiosity of an excitable 7 year old, was that 6 of the starting 11 Germany players in the final played for a club side called Bayern Munich, from a city in Bavaria in South of Germany. And then that Bayern side went on to emulate the feats of their Dutch rivals Ajax by winning the European Cup in the next three years in 1974-75 & 76.
And the rest is history! I can proudly state that I have watched every single live telecast of Bayern & Germany matches shown in Australia since the early 80s (once SBS started to show live matches) & after years of suffering in isolation, am now one of the founding members of the thriving & officially sanctioned Bayern Munich Fan Club in Australia.
On Thursday morning, the latest episode in this intense footballing rivalry will unfold once again. It promises to be an exciting encounter because Holland lost their opening game to Denmark & therefore the match is a must win game for them. On the other hand, this German side, the youngest in average age in Germany's football history since after WW2, is an exciting attacking minded side which will most probably not play for a draw.
Both sides are star studded. Germany will again field 6-7 Bayern players in their starting line up, and may give their most exciting prospect, Dortmund's 19 year old wonder kid, Mario Goetze a starting birth on the flanks. On the other hand, Holland's free scoring striker Robin Van Persie fired bank against Denmark & it remains to be seen if he loses his starting line up to Huntelaar, the Bundesliga's top scorer this season, who is obviously familiar with the Germans.
My prediction: Germany 2 Holland 1
Why not, a repeat of the 1974 World Cup with 6-7 Bayern players in the line up would suit me fine!
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