RUUD van Nistelrooy has caused considerable offence and ill-feeling in Germany by daring to mention the war in the context of tonight’s confrontation in group D, but the Holland forward’s comments were designed to offer a sense of perspective rather than to fan the flames of hatred. The Manchester United player is well aware of the enmity between the two nations but, for him, the match represents nothing so much as his long-awaited first appearance in the finals of a leading tournament.
A career-threatening knee injury forced Van Nistelrooy, below, to sit out the 2000 European Championship finals, which his country co-hosted with Belgium, and their failure to qualify for the last World Cup meant that he had another empty summer two years later. On both occasions, he sought anonymity on the West Coast of the United States. This time, preferred to Patrick Kluivert as the focal point of the Holland attack, there will be no hiding place.
“I haven’t been able to play in a big tournament, so to be here preparing myself like this is a great feeling,” Van Nistelrooy said in the build-up to tonight’s match in Oporto. “I feel ready and really eager to play.”
Holland would not be Holland, though, if the preparations for the tournament had been smooth. Dick Advocaat, the coach, has been heavily criticised for results in the warm-up matches, most notably a 1-0 home defeat by Ireland ten days ago, while the Dutch media have highlighted the intense rivalry between Van Nistelrooy and Kluivert, who, Advocaat has concluded, simply cannot play together.
Van Nistelrooy says that the low expectations could work in the team’s favour. “We are seen as one of the outsiders and I see that as an advantage,” he said.
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Germany have never entered a tournament with so little expected of them. Rudi Völler, the coach, is expected to employ Kevin Kuranyi, of VfB Stuttgart, as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation designed to frustrate Holland. If this meeting of two of Europe’s giants can be likened to a war, it may be one of attrition.
GERMANY: (probable; 4-5-1): 1 O Kahn — 3 A Friedrich, 4 C Wörns, 5 J Nowotny, 21 P Lahm — 19 B Schneider, 6 F Baumann, 8 D Hamann, 13 M Ballack, 22 T Frings — 10 K Kuranyi.
HOLLAND: (4-3-3): 1 E van der Sar — 2 M Reiziger, 3 J Stam, 4 W Bouma, 5 G van Bronckhorst — 14 W Sneijder, 6 P Cocu, 8 E Davids — 7 A van der Meyde, 9 R van Nistelrooy, 11 R van der Vaart.
Referee: A Frisk (Sweden).