Germany, Netherlands reprise U17 rivalry

When Germany meet the Netherlands in Sunday's UEFA European Under-17 Championship final it will be the latest chapter in a rivalry that has plenty of history in this competition, let alone senior football.

The neighbours were famously matched in the 1974 FIFA World Cup final, when the then West Germany won 2-1 as hosts, with the Netherlands gaining revenge in the 1988 UEFA European Championship semi-final in Hamburg. In all they have been matched seven times in major senior final tournaments, Germany winning three and the Netherlands two, though most recently drawing 1-1 at UEFA EURO 2004.

However, the latest final between Germany and the Netherlands came in this competition two years ago in Magdeburg. Germany had already won their group-stage meeting 2-0 – the reverse of the scoreline when they met here on Matchday 1 – and a competition record crowd of 24,000 was present six days later for the decider.

Luc Castaignos opened the scoring with an emphatic early strike before Lennart Thy's close-range header levelled matters. Germany were on top but it took until three minutes before the end of extra time for substitute Florian Trinks to win the hosts their first title with a fantastic free-kick. Winning coach Marco Pezzaiuoli said: "Nobody who played in this game will ever forget it."

Two years earlier they had also met in the finals in Belgium, playing off for fifth place and a FIFA U-17 World Cup berth after coming third in their groups. Both teams had led before Richard Sukuta-Pasu gave Germany a 3-2 win with four minutes to go, and they were to finish third in Korea Republic later that summer.

In the previous couple of seasons, they had played in decisive elite round games. Germany were to make it in 2006, drawing their second match 1-1 against the Netherlands, who they eventually pipped on goal difference. It was a different matter in 2005 as the Netherlands went to the last game three points behind Germany and trailed 2-1 with five minutes left. Vurnon Anita and Jeffrey Sarpong struck late, though, to take the Dutch through in a three-way tie-break above their neighbours and the Czech Republic. The Netherlands were to make it to the their first final, losing to Turkey.

Germany had previously held the edge in the former U16 event, knocking the Netherlands out over two legs in 1982 qualifying and the 1984 quarter-finals. They also won 3-0 at home and drew 3-3 away in a 1996 preliminary group and Germany defeated a team containing Clarence Seedorf, Klass Jan Huntelaar, Rafael van der Vaart and substitute Robin van Persie 1-0 in the 2000 group stage.

More recently, they were matched in the German-hosted Four Nations Tournament in September, the home side winning 2-1. Since then the Netherlands have embarked on a 14-game unbeaten streak, including their group defeat of Germany courtesy of Karim Rekik and Kyle Ebecilio, never conceding more than once in a game.