It was, for a lot of people, an early final, for others a rematch, and some of them took this match as a classic. Netherlands and West Germany, European numbers 1 and 2 respectively, the owners of the powerful forward of Milan and Inter, faced themselves at Giuseppe Meazza´s stadium for Italy 90 World Cudp round of 16. Early should
leave the competition one of the candidates and, for that reason, the match itself was one of the most anticipated in recent years.
Two hours ago, Argentina beat Brazil, in Turín, with the agonizing and unforgettable goal scored by Claudio Caniggia after a magic assistance from Diego Maradona. The football universe has been waiting for the dessert, for the great match between two national teams that promised delight to all the fans.
Only 20 minutes passed, when Rudi Völler took the ball in midfield and Frank Rijkaard dropped him violently. The Argentinean judge, Juan Carlos Loustau, showed the first yellow card to the player born in Amsterdam who kept prowling the zone. Once the German stood up and headed for the area in order to wait for the free kick, the Dutch followed him and left him a spit of novel in the curly hair. The Teuton forward, angry, waved his hands and the referee also showed him the yellow card.
But that´s not all. When the free kick was taken, Völler charged against Hans Van Breukelen in the air. Goalkeeper and forward were fallen on the floor until Rijkaard appeared again, even furious. The midfielder rebuked his opponent and Loustau sent off to both players when the match still had 70 minutes left. In the way to the dressing rooms, the Dutch gave the German another spit, and Rudi, with cold blood, quickened his footprints and left the pitch.
What it appeared to be a great football game ended in a kind of battle. At half-time the score was 0-0 but at the beginning of the second half the team led by Franz Beckenbauer began to defeat his enemy. In the sixth minute, Guido Buchwald ran trough the left side and sent a short pass to Jürgen Klinsmann who opened the scoring.
After the 1-0 the friction followed in the match because Netherlands did not find the way and West Germany played with calm and knowing that sooner or later they were going to end the story. So hot was the match that even Marco Van Basten was booked due to a hard foul to Lothar Matthäus. The Germans were doing their game and, five minutes before the match finished, Andreas Brehme scored a beautiful goal agianst Van Breukelen´s far post.
The 2-0 seemed insurmountable. However, Klaus Augenthaler at minute 44, committed to Van Basten, a child foul into the area. The referee awarded the penalty and Ronald Koeman scored in order to give suspense until the end.
The Argeninean judge gave only one minute and thirty seconds of added time. During those 90 seconds there was time for a hard kick from Adri Van Tiggelen to Karl Heinz Riedle which fortunately did not hit the player. Another hard foul was given to the Germans when Johnny van´t Schip hit one the of the best players of the match, Pierre Littbarski. And before the free kick, the Dutch fans chanted the Ajax´s striker name in order to thank him for all the effort.
Loustau blew the whistle. Matthäus protested to the referee because he thought that Van Basten had to be sent off, Klinsmann changed his shirt with Ruud Gullit, and both national teams left the pitch with appaluse. Because it was an early final and both teams had the merit to arrive there. The match will be unforgettable due to the early red card for Rijkaard, Völler and the spitting show. But besides this there was a great meatch that West Germany won 2-1; the same team that, two weeks later, defeated Argentina in the final game to win the long-awaited World Cup.
