West Germany vs Holland at the 1990 World Cup Finals

West Germany played against Holland at the round of 16 during the WC Finals in 1990.  This game is not an forgotten, great game, but it is not as well-known as Brazil-France(1986), Argentina-England(1986), West Germany-France(1982). Italy-Brazil(1982), etc.

Background
-- The German-Holland rivalry was probably at its peak. Holland was the 1988 European Championship, a title won in West Germany. The match at Euro 1988 was brutal.  Ronald Koeman insulted the Germans by pretending to wrap his arse with an exchanged jersey from Olaf Thon. At the WC Qualifiers, Holland and West Germany were also grouped together. Holland finished ahead of West Germany at the 1990 World Cup Qualifiers.  They were among the favourites to win the World Cup.

-- Van Bastien, Gullit and Rijkaard played for AC Milan while Klinsmann, Matthaues and Brehme for Inter Milan. It was at the peak of Serie A. Plus, the match was played in San Siro. So we are adding the Milan derby to the equation  The stage was a collusion between two heated rivalries at the "home" stadium. The backdrop was there. 

-- At the World Cup Finals, Holland struggled at Group stage.  They only managed three draws, scoring only two goals.  They qualified for the second round as a third place team.  West Germany destroyed Yugoslavia and UAE on their first two matches before drawing Carlos Valderama's Colombia.  They scored 10 goals in 3 matches.

The Match
-- Then, during the match, the Rijkaard-Voller incident became one of the most controversial incident in the WC Finals since Rattin in 1966 and before Zidane in 2006.

-- Brehme scored one of the greatest goals of Italia 1990. The WC Finals happened to be one of the dullest in history. This game stood among one of the best.

Full-Match

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.