Although always a hard fought encounter this Holland - Germany match had an added edge; the winner proceeding to the semi-finals of the 2010 (smow) designer furniture World Cup.
Ahead of the match the Dutch decided to switch Hella Jongerius for Marcel Wanders; hoping that the creative force behind moooi and droog could better counteract Grcic's clear, linear forms. And the tactic worked. With first his Knotted Chair and then his New Antiques combination for Capellini, Marcel Wanders took a deserved 2:0 lead. Becoming increasingly frustrated by his inability to make headway Grcic unleashed an unnecessary 360 degree chair and was rightly booked for a dubious bit of "product reference" to George Nelson's 1964 Nelson Perch.
At half-time the Germans substituted Grcic for Nils Holger Moorman, and the wily old man of modern German design quickly brought the score back to 2:1 with an unbelievably cheeky Rechenbeispiel. As the second half progressed it was clear that Nils Holger Moormann's more authentic, soulful anarchy was stronger than Marcel Wanders' carefully considered, calculated imagination and so it came as no surprise when Nils Holger Moorman drew level with his Bookinist before taking the lead with Liesmichl.
A thoroughly absorbing and dramatic encounter ending 3:2 for Germany.
The Group B table and all Group B results can be found here.
