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Rivals thrown together again

TRADITIONAL RIVALS Germany and the Netherlands will lock horns yet again at the Euro 2012 finals next year after the two neighbours…

Sat Dec 03 2011 - 00:00

TRADITIONAL RIVALS Germany and the Netherlands will lock horns yet again at the Euro 2012 finals next year after the two neighbours were drawn together in the toughest group of the 16-nation tournament.

The two will play each other on June 13th in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in Group B, which also includes two other difficult-to-beat nations, Portugal and Denmark.

The tournament will open on June 8th in Warsaw when the Poles take on 2004 champions Greece. Russia and the Czech Republic are also in Group A which has a distinctly eastern European feel.

The fierce rivalry between Germany and Netherlands dates from their first competitive fixture, the 1974 World Cup final, when Germany came from behind to beat the Dutch, hot favourites that year, 2-1 in Munich.

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It was compounded when Marco Van Basten and co took on and beat Germany 2-1 in the 1988 Euro semi-finals in Hamburg – going on to win the title in Munich of all places – and added to by a fractious last-16 clash at the 1990 World Cup, best remembered for the spitting incident involving Rudi Voeller and Frank Rijkaard.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said: “It is the most difficult group of all. It will be very challenging but it’s good that we start with a tough group like that. Denmark are always uncomfortable, a typical tournament team. They have no fear of big names. That is what makes them dangerous.”

Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder said: “It is always important to win your first match but with Germany and Portugal as next opponents, the opener against Denmark will be crucial.”

Uefa and Ukrainian soccer chiefs said yesterday they had feared at some points that Ukraine would not be able to stage its part of the 31-match tournament because of stadium and infrastructure delays and difficulties.

But Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino told a news conference he was now confident the tournament would be a success and that all tickets would be sold.

Euro 2012 will be the last tournament to be staged with 16 teams. The tournament expands to 24 nations at its next edition in 2016 in France.