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The highest scoring game of the tournament so far was also among the most exciting of the lot so far, with Portugal scraping past Denmark 3 – 2. There could not have been more of a discrepancy between the first and second halves, Portugal dominating in the first and Denmark in the second. However, the Danes would have deserved this win, coming back from being two behind to equalize and in the 86th minute concede the winning goal to Portugal. They fought valiantly, missed their fair share of chances. If they had played this game against the Dutch in their opening match, they would have won with at least 3 goals to spare. Portugal may have won, but if there is anyone who would be the Man of the Match, it would be the Danish ‘keeper Stephan Anderson, who if were not present, Portugal would have won by a quite larger margin.
The game started off on a slow pace with the Portuguese taking control early on with no passes and lots of “self-play”, the hallmark of their game. Denmark got four consecutive corners within the first nine minutes but were unable to do any damage. Portugal then slowly took control of the game, starting off with Ronaldo missing the target. Portugal then got two corners, and on the second one, Pepe headed in a simple corner making it it 1 – 0 in favor of the Portuguese. 12 minutes later they scored again, this time it was Helder Postiga who directed the ball again in a simple finish in the 34th minute from a cross, the Danish defence failing miserably. 2 – 0. The game was totally under Portuguese control now, the Danes helped them out with a broken attack strategy and a defence that could not get their bearings right. Pepe, Postiga and Nani kept the pressure up on Denmark with their summated presence on the Danish goal front. Somehow, Denmark tried to break free and that saw results in the 41st minute, when Nicolas Bendtner jumped in on a Krohn-Dehli cross to deliver a stunning flying header to score for the Danes, making it 2 – 1.
The second half presented a totally different picture from what was seen in the first. Denmark looked like they wanted to push a point home, and the Portuguese looked lost. The heralded Christiano Ronaldo missed two chances in the second half with only the goalkeeper in front of him! One went into Anderson’s arms and one went wide. I would say that overhyped players in club leagues do not give as importance to their country teams, be it Ronaldo or Van Persie. Anyway, Portugal kept on attacking but were denied each time by by the one man army that was the Danish ‘keeper Stephan Anderson, the Man of the Match as far as I am concerned. Then, when it seemed that Portugal would take it all the way, it happened. In the 80th minute Nikolas Bendtner struck again through another header equalized for Denmark off a cross from Lars Jakobsen, making it 2 -2. The game was wide open again! But if anyone thought that the game would end in a draw, they were mistaken. In the 87th minute, Portugal substitute Silvestre Varela scored off a rebound to make it 3 -2 for Portugal, shocking the Scandinavians and everyone else. Though Denmark attacked valiantly, there was no result, 3 -2 it would be.
Group B, the Group of Death, presented the most interesting possibilities, but all of which would hinge on the second group match between Germany and the Netherlands, the real battle of Europe. Denmark, despite all their pluck, conceded two goals to Portugal, and hence now Germany, Portugal and Denmark have 3 points each. We need to see what would play off in the epic battle between the European traditional rivals.
