European Championship Stories; 1988, Revenge is a dish best served cold

The rivalry between the Netherlands and Germany transcends mere football alone, but on the pitch it took the Dutch team 14 years to avenge losing the 1974 World Cup final.

There can be few things more tiresome in international football than war analogies. Sometimes, however, they are inescapable and this can be no more true than in the case of European nations which once pitched up against each other on battlefields, only to find themselves facing off against their former allies or rivals for decades afterwards. In the case of the Dutch national team, the complex nature of its relationship with its neighbour – and former occupier – Germany has come to manifest itself through an occasional series of  gladiatorial matches between the two national sides.