'A German newspaper columnist has led the attack against Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy for stirring up the ghosts of World War Two before their Euro 2004 clash on Tuesday. Bild columnist Franz Josef Wagner criticised van Nistelrooy for mentioning the war as the reason why the Netherlands would be motivated to beat Germany on Tuesday, and was joined by ordinary Germans stung by the Manchester United striker's comments.
"It is truly sad what you've said," wrote Wagner, whose page two column has 12 million readers. "We just had D-Day together. Your queen celebrated with our chancellor the liberation of Europe from the Nazi dictatorship. What you said is pitiful."
Van Nistelrooy was quoted saying emotions for the match would be especially high because of World War Two. His comments struck a nerve in Germany, eager to put its Nazi past behind it.
"This is not just about football history, it is about real history and what went on 60 years ago," he said. Germany occupied the Netherlands for five years.
Although political, cultural and trade relations between Germany and the Netherlands have long since normalised, lingering tensions over the war as well as memories of numerous bitter football matches since then have been kept alive.
Many Germans said they were astonished that Van Nistelrooy had invoked World War Two before the match.
"He's a complete idiot," said Niko Bogdan, 32, an office worker in Berlin. "But I fear Holland's going to win anyhow."
Dieter Furhmann, 67, said the comparison was out of line.
"What a moron," the pensioner said. "You can't take football that serious. It's just a game."
Anna Podbielski, 39, an office clerk, said: "War has nothing to do with a soccer match. I think it's pretty unprofessional of him to bring up the war before a soccer match. What a fool."
"Here are 74 reasons why we'll beat Holland," wrote Berlin's B.Z. tabloid, picking "74" as a reminder to Dutch fans of the 1974 World Cup final when West Germany beat the Netherlands.
Among the more pointed barbs were "because the holes in your cheese are bigger than the holes in your defence", "your orange uniforms cause blindness", "your coffee shops have a strange odour", "you snatch all our deck chairs at holiday resorts", and "in Berlin only the garbage men wear such bright orange dress."
Germany's ZDF broadcasting network aired a song written especially for the match.
"There's one thing that makes me a mega nationalist -- when it comes to football, I hate Holland like the plague," sang Goetz Widmann. "There's nothing worse than losing to Holland."
German media have also duly taken note of Dutch German-bashing such as anti-German Internet games, waterproof pictures of German coach Rudi Voeller installed in Dutch toilets and voodoo dolls wearing Germany uniforms.
They have also reprinted photos of a Dutch player pretending to wipe his rear with a West Germany jersey after the Netherlands beat Germany at the 1988 European Championship and of a Dutch defender spitting at Germany striker Rudi Voeller at the 1990 World Cup.'
Link to our article on Sunday: http://www.redissue.co.uk/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=162394