The European Football Championship begins in Germany on June 14th. Until then, we’ll be looking back in a series at the most exciting and bizarre European Championship moments – and let one picture do the talking in each episode.
Ronald Koeman after the final whistle of the 1988 European Championship semi-final between the Netherlands and Germany. © imago sportfotodienst/imago images
Mocking joy screams from the face of the man with blonde hair. The upper body is naked, the pants are tight on the buttocks according to the custom of the time, and the player is pressing something against his buttocks. He looks at his colleagues, who want to celebrate him for his provocation. It applies to the Germans. An act of triumph, celebrated with a piece of fabric from the opponent. Because in his right hand Koeman, the libero of the Dutch national team, was holding a white jersey on the lawn of Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion that late evening on June 21, 1988. He just exchanged it for his orange one. Previously, the German player Olaf Thon wore this white dress. And with that, Koeman wipes his butt, whooping and cackling with delight.
The Netherlands won the Hamburg semi-final of the Germans’ home European Championship 2-1 against the team next door, which they hated at the time. The word hate is a big one, but in this case it applies, it is not put too harshly. The victory in Hamburg was the sporting retaliation of a nation that had suffered at the hands of the Germans.
National Trauma
It initially goes back more than a decade to the 1974 World Cup in Germany. That was actually the tournament of the big Totaalvoetbal representatives in Orange around their football savior Johan Cruyff. Johan Neeskens converted a penalty early on in the World Cup final against Germany to make it 1-0. Later, the Germans also received a penalty following a volley from Bernd Hölzenbein, at least that is the common view in the Netherlands. Paul Breitner transformed. Shortly before the break, Gerd Müller made it 2-1, the Dutch, who were confident of victory, lost the final in Munich. “It was a national trauma,” says the author Auke Kok, who wrote a famous book about the 1974 World Cup in which the title says it all: We were the best.
The defeat, the swallow, affected the game, but the meta level revolved around the Second World War and the German occupation of the Netherlands. “It was the general thought that the Dutch not only could beat the Germans in the World Cup final, but also had to. And that was also in people’s minds: We, the Dutch, established the modern game and the Football taken to a new level: “The victory would also have been revenge for what happened in the Second World War,” says Kok. But this subsequent triumph over the former occupiers had to be postponed in 1974.
“That’s how deep it was”
And even 14 years later it didn’t look like it at first, the game was a mirror image of the World Cup final. This time the Germans took a 1-0 lead ten minutes after the break after a penalty converted by Lothar Matthäus. The Dutch were able to equalize, also with the help of a penalty, which Ronald Koeman, the later bogeyman, converted (74th). Marco van Basten made it 2-1 (88th). It stayed that way. The victory in the opponents’ stadium, the spoiled participation of the Germans in the final, the European Championship euphoria among the locals that was suddenly stopped – all of this seemed like a liberation for the Dutch envoys. The Telegraph headlined: Finally revenge. That was ambiguous, says Kok: “At one point it applied to 1974, but then it also applied to the German occupation. That’s how deep it was.”
The night after the DFB success, there was national euphoria in the streets and market squares of Dutch cities, says Kok. “It was spontaneous. But it was impossible for a Dutchman not to go outside and celebrate. It was the greatest spontaneous euphoria in the country since its liberation from the Germans in May 1945.” Four days later, the Dutch won the final in Munich 2-0 against the Soviet Union.
Rijkaard spucks
And Koeman’s action? “The Dutch were obsessed with showing the Germans. Koeman’s wiper was the greatest expression of this obsession. But unfortunately it was embarrassing,” says Kok. Koeman is aware that “because of this number he will never be able to work for a club in Germany.” He later said: “I regret what I did after the game. It was an impulsive reaction, a stupid action that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I haven’t met Olaf Thon since then, so I never had the opportunity to excuse.” Olaf Thon said: “Of course it doesn’t exactly show character to do such an action as a victorious player. I would think of many things after winning the European Championship semi-final, but certainly not humiliating an inferior opponent in this way.”
Kok actually assumed that the football rivalry between the two neighbors would return to normal after the Dutch satisfaction in Hamburg. But she only did that after the lost World Cup round of 16 game between the two teams in Milan two years later. The Germans won, again the final score was 2-1, Frank Rijkaard spat Rudi Völler twice, here too spurred on by the emotions of the moment and the German-Dutch past. After that, says Auke Kok, “this particular rivalry became smaller and smaller. Today it has almost disappeared.” The Dutch bond coach even supports the current moderation. His name is: Ronald Koeman.
The European Football Championship begins in Germany on June 14th. Until then, we’ll be looking back in a series at the most exciting and bizarre European Championship moments – and let one picture do the talking in each episode.
Mocking joy screams from the face of the man with blonde hair. The upper body is naked, the pants are tight on the buttocks according to the custom of the time, and the player is pressing something against his buttocks. He looks at his colleagues, who want to celebrate him for his provocation. It applies to the Germans. An act of triumph, celebrated with a piece of fabric from the opponent. Because in his right hand Koeman, the libero of the Dutch national team, was holding a white jersey on the lawn of Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion that late evening on June 21, 1988. He just exchanged it for his orange one. Previously, the German player Olaf Thon wore this white dress. And with that, Koeman wipes his butt, whooping and cackling with delight.
