Old scores and local rivalries are set to be settled in the opening stages of the European Championships in Portugal next summer

Old scores and local rivalries are set to be settled in the opening stages of the European Championships in Portugal next summer as the soccer teams of Germany and Holland have been placed together in Group D. Germany will face The Netherlands, Czech Republic and Latvia in the group stages of the European Soccer Championships in Portugal next summer. It is a dangerous group for Rudi Völler’s men who can expect a difficult time of things against the Dutch, one of the favorites for the title and 6-1 destroyers of countryman Berti Vogts’ Scotland in their play-off match. Rudi himself will have painful memories of the Dutch and their former coach Frank Rijkaard in particular. When the names came out in the same group, Völler’s eyes dropped and he granted himself a wry smile. No doubt he was already reading the future reports which would drag up one of his most distasteful soccer moments. In the second half of a World Cup match between the two countries in Italia ’90 , the Dutch star spat on Völler a number of times before the German reacted and was promptly sent off. Rijkaard was not far behind him down the tunnel.