Factbox: Netherlands v Germany

Facts and figures ahead of Wednesday's Euro 2012 Group B match between Netherlands and Germany at the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv (1845 GMT):

* Incredibly, this will be the eighth time the arch-rivals have met at a finals tournament and the fifth at the European Championship. Germany hold the edge with three wins against two for the Dutch and two draws. Almost equally surprising, both teams have scored at least once in each of those seven matches.
* There have been some classics: the 1974 World Cup final, when Johan Cruyff's team scored an early penalty, only to lose 2-1 to the Germans in Munich; the 1988 Euro semi-final in Hamburg when Marco Van Basten scored a late winner to beat the hosts 2-1; the 1990 World Cup second round game which Germany won 2-1 after their striker Rudi Voeller and Dutch stalwart Frank Rijkaard were sent off.
* The Netherlands have taken part in eight finals since the group stage was introduced. Their 1-0 defeat by Denmark on Saturday marked the only time they have lost their opening game apart from in 1988 when they went down 1-0 to the Soviet Union. Curiously enough, that was the only time they have won the tournament, coming back to beat the Soviet Union 2-0 in the final.
* It is now 38 games and more than five years since the Dutch drew a competitive game. Since a 0-0 draw with Romania in a Euro qualifier in March 2007, the Dutch have won 31 and lost seven games in qualifiers or finals tournaments.
* Germany, who won all 10 matches in their qualifying group, have scored in each of their last 17 internationals and have netted three goals or more in nine of those. The last time they failed to score was in a 0-0 draw away to Sweden in November 2010.
* Striker Mario Gomez, who scored in the 1-0 win over Portugal in Germany's opening game at Euro 2012, has netted six goals in their last six matches in the qualifiers or finals.
Previous meetings:
24/10/1910 Fr Netherlands 4 Germany 2 Arnhem
16/10/1910 Fr Germany 1 Netherlands 2 Kleve
24/03/1912 Fr Netherlands 5 Germany 5 Zwolle
17/11/1912 Fr Germany 2 Netherlands 3 Leipzig
5/04/1914 Fr Netherlands 4 Germany 4 Amsterdam
10/05/23 Fr Germany 0 Netherlands 0 Hamburg
21/04/24 Fr Netherlands 0 Germany 1 Amsterdam
29/03/25 Fr Netherlands 2 Germany 1 Amsterdam
18/04/26 Fr Germany 4 Netherlands 2 Duesseldorf
31/10/26 Fr Netherlands 2 Germany 3 Amsterdam
20/11/27 Fr Germany 2 Netherlands 2 Cologne
26/04/31 Fr Netherlands 1 Germany 1 Amsterdam
4/12/32 Fr Germany 0 Netherlands 2 Duesseldorf
17/02/35 Fr Netherlands 2 Germany 3 Amsterdam
31/01/37 Fr Germany 2 Netherlands 2 Duesseldorf
14/03/56 Fr West Germany 1 Netherlands 2 Duesseldorf
3/04/57 Fr Netherlands 1 West Germany 2 Amsterdam
21/10/59 Fr West Germany 7 Netherlands 0 Cologne
23/03/66 Fr Netherlands 2 West Germany 4 Rotterdam
7/07/74 WCF West Germany 2 Netherlands 1 Munich
17/07/75 Fr West Germany 1 Netherlands 1 Frankfurt
18/06/78 WCF Netherlands 2 West Germany 2 Cordoba
20/12/78 Fr West Germany 3 Netherlands 1 Duesseldorf
14/06/80 ECF West Germany 3 Netherlands 2 Naples
11/10/80 Fr Netherlands 1 West Germany 1 Eindhoven
14/05/86 Fr West Germany 3 Netherlands 1 Dortmund
21/06/88 ECF West Germany 1 Netherlands 2 Hamburg
19/10/88 WCQ West Germany 0 Netherlands 0 Munich
26/04/89 WCQ Netherlands 1 West Germany 1 Rotterdam
24/06/90 WCF West Germany 2 Netherlands 1 Milan
18/06/92 ECF Netherlands 3 Germany 1 Gothenburg
24/04/96 Fr Netherlands 0 Germany 1 Rotterdam
18/11/98 Fr Germany 1 Netherlands 1 Gelsenkirchen
23/02/00 Fr Netherlands 2 Germany 1 Amsterdam
20/11/02 Fr Germany 1 Netherlands 3 Gelsenkirchen
15/06/04 ECF Netherlands 1 Germany 1 Porto
17/08/05 Fr Netherlands 2 Germany 2 Rotterdam
15/11/11 Fr Germany 3 Netherlands 0 Hamburg
Head to Head
Played: 38
Germany 14 wins
Netherlands 10 wins
Draws 14
Key: WCQ = World Cup qualifier, WCF - World Cup finals, ECF = European Championship finals, Fr = Friendly
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO Sports and on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/44726.aspx