I suppose deep wounds take a long time to heal, 60 years should be long enough though – you would think. The leaders of Europe successfully demonstrated that 60 years is indeed long enough to forget about the past, reconcile, and look to the future. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has demonstrated his nation’s guilt over WWII and desire for atonement over the past few weeks within the 60 year D-Day celebrations.
It would seem that this is not enough for some people. The Netherlands premier striker, Manchester United forward Ruud Van Nistelrooy has described his nation’s encounter with Germany in the European Championships as a chance of payback for 5 years of German occupation in World War II. Understandably the Germans are both shocked and appalled.
This isn’t the first time the matter has raised in European sport and most certainly not the first incident between the Dutch and the Germans. As recently as the 1988 championships, their were photos of a Dutch player wiping his rear with a West German uniform… in 1990 German striker Rudi Voeller was spat on by one of the Dutch team. Whenever England plays Germany, it’s never mentioned in public, but the undertones and scars of WWII are still lying under the surface… The Germans probably have the most intense rivalries in world sport, because of their chequered past.
This foolish attack by the Dutchman has sparked tirades of abuse from the German general public… claiming that “only the garbage men of Berlin wear such bright orange uniforms” (Orange is the Dutch national colour) and making flippant remarks about the strange odour of the Dutch coffee shops – a callous remark by a national identity on one side, has sparked a war of words between two entire nations…
Football, whilst marvellous indeed, is still only a game, and a figure with such status and view in the public eye opening old wounds, especially after such events and the Dutch queen Beatrix meeting with German dignitaries over the past few weeks, it’s not something I find extremely easy to understand. Maybe that’s why footballers play football… because they are too stupid to do anything else…
BAM!!!