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The great rivals
June 21st, 2006
Now here’s a question for you. Which football team do Germans see as their biggest rival in international football?
There are plenty of candidates aren’t there? Count the number of countries that share a border with the World Cup’s host: nine. (OK, so one of them is Luxembourg.) Most of those nations have played famous matches against Germany or West Germany.
I’d guess that most of those countries believe that their biggest rivalry is with Germany. England might too, even though it’s a bit further away.
But what do Germans think? It’s been my favourite question in the many conversations I’ve had with local fans. Is their biggest rival England, France, the Netherlands or someone else?
I thought that I knew what most people would say. And not only was I correct, every single German fan has given me the same answer.
An England-Germany match is certainly a nation-stopping event, but nothing, absolutely nothing, gets German pulses racing like the prospect of meeting the oranje.
There are at least two commercials on German television in which the nation selected as Germany’s opponent is the Netherlands (and that’s one of the reasons why I thought I already knew the answer to my question).
Frankfurt has turned orange because the Netherlands played Argentina here today. I’m also wearing an orange replica shirt that I bought in Rotterdam but everyone can see that I’m not Dutch. I’m 178 centimetres tall (about 5 feet and 10 inches), an average height in most countries, but not the Netherlands. (I was also wearing my green and gold Socceroos scarf – it goes well with orange.)
I decided to watch the match on one of the big screens at Frankfurt’s Fan Park but after entering it, and realising that it would have standing room only, I conceded that I had no chance of seeing the screen because all Dutch men are taller than me.
[By the way, I have to make a correction. After trying to watch the Brazil-Croatia match, I said that Frankfurt’s Fan Parks were full that night. There is actually a third large screen on the bank of the Main River that fans can watch the game in. It’s a few hundred metres from the two screens that are above the water. I hadn’t realised this until tonight and it may not have been full for Brazil v Croatia.]
I moved back to the nearby bridge where I could see the giant screen without obstruction. There were less Dutch fans here and more Germans that were interested in the game.
The Germans all knew that if the Netherlands won and topped the group, the great rivals would be set for a quarter final clash. It was the main topic of conversation around me.
The match, as you have probably seen, never really ignited. It’s not that surprising – both teams were already through to the second round. With the group winner on course for a meeting with Mexico and then Germany/Sweden, and the runner-up set for Portugal and England/Ecuador, there wasn’t a lot to play for.
Incidentally, although I was never going to buy a ticket from a tout (scalper) today, out of interest, I made a few inquiries around the main train station about the prices that people were paying. One guy holding a “tickets wanted” sign told me that the cheapest he’d been offered was 400 euros. Some touts were charging 600 euros.
After the match, one of the German ladies standing next to me said, “well we might play Holland in the Final again”. There seems to be nothing this country wants more. But it’s a healthy rivalry – no German I’ve spoken to has ever said an unkind word about the Dutch.
When I returned to my hotel room, I saw highlights of the Côte d’Ivoire v Serbia & Montenegro match and wondered if there has ever been a day of World Cup action that has seen two handballs as crazy as the ones that saw both Mexico and Serbia & Montenegro concede penalties.
My attention now turns to Stuttgart as tomorrow Australia plays Croatia with a place in the last 16 at stake.
Most Australian fans will tell you that qualifying for the second round is our true goal at this tournament. Anything less would be disappointing; anything more would be a bonus.
I’m both excited and nervous. The Socceroos just need a draw so they are favoured to progress. But in this game, one chance, one mishap, or one bad call, can be the difference between success and failure.
I have to again apologise in advance in case my entry for tomorrow is late. Whatever happens, it’s going to be another big day for Australian football.
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