Classic Snapshot: Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Völler

By: Jan | December 12th, 2007

A follow up to the Johan Cruijff post, as I thought I could just as well turn this day into Dutch-German football rivalry day at the Bundesliga Offside. Credit goes to Inara from the Lyon Offside for digging this one up.

Frank Rijkaard spits at Rudi Völler’s curly mullet during the second round match of the 1990 World Cup in Italy (Germany 2-1 Netherlands).

I was on holiday in Spain at that time and my parents didn’t really care about football, so I was left with a small pocket radio to follow the match. Thus all I remember was the heated commentary and me imagining the wildest things. Here’s a summary from a longer article about the Dutch-German football rivalry:

The ugliest and most eventful game in the two nations’ shared football history. Before kick-off the Dutch supporters shout down the German anthem with boos and “Hup Holland Hup!” yells. The Germans reply by chanting “Deutschland! Deutschland!” during the Dutch anthem. The game is historically nasty. In the first minutes of the match Adri van Tiggelen badly hurts Pierre Littbarski. The tone’s been set. Just before half time Völler dives to the grass after contact with a seemingly innocent Frank Rijkaard, who is booked for it. An angry Rijkaard is angry and spits in Völler’s hair. The German shows it to the referee, to which Rijkaard reacts by pulling the German’s hair. This time Völler gets a yellow card.

The subsequent free kick doesn’t yield anything, but Völler is seen provoking goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen. Rijkaard intervenes once again, pulls Völler’s ear and spits again, this time hitting the striker in the neck. After a near punch-up between the two, both are sent off. On his way to the dressing room Rijkaard runs past Völler - and spits again. In the catacombs the Dutchman reportedly grabbed the German by the throat. According to media reports a brief fistfight followed. Germany, meanwhile, ends up winning the game, which can be regarded as the climax of the hatred between the two countries. Völler was suspended for one game, Rijkaard for three.

Anyway, Rijkaard has since then apologised to Völler and the two are getting along just fine now. Rudi Völler’s moustache and mullet have survived to this day and serve as living memory of this match. Rijkaard, in the meantime, has moved on with his fashion choices.