Germany beat Denmark 2-1 and a Ronaldo-inspired Portugal beat the Netherlands by the same score in the final Group B matches at the European Championship on Sunday. The Germans and Portuguese are now in the last eight. Here is a running account of the action. All times are local to Poland. ___ 2247: Monday sees the resolution of Group C. Defending champion Spain plays Croatia in Gdansk and Italy takes on Ireland in Poznan. The Irish are already out of the tournament and will only be playing for pride but Croatia, Italy and Spain can all qualify for the quarterfinal. ___ 2238: Portugal deserves its victory over the Netherlands. While the Dutch at times looked dangerous going forward, Portugal repeatedly cut them open on the break and on another day could have had five when you consider Ronaldo hit the post twice and Nani missed the easiest of chances. Germany struggled more than you'd expect to break down a resilient Danish side, but yet again got the result when it mattered. ___ 2237: So there we have it: Germany wins Group B and plays Greece in the quarterfinal in Gdansk; Portugal will play the Czech Republic in Warsaw. ___ 2235: FULL-TIME: Portugal 2, Netherlands 1. ___ 2234: FULL-TIME: Germany 2, Denmark 1 ___ 2226: Rafael van der Vaart goes close to giving the Netherlands a glimmer of hope, curling a beautiful shot onto the far post, with an outstretched Rui Patricio in the Portugal goal well and truly beaten. That would have been a sensational goal. ___ 2224: Germany takes the lead and the goal comes through Lars Bender. A ball in behind the defense looks destined for Klose but it has too much on it for the German striker. Bender, though, is overlapping with a lung-busting run and slots the ball calmly past Andersen and into the far corner. Surely that sees Germany through as group winners? ___ 2221: GOAL! GERMANY 2, Denmark 1 (Bender) ___ 2220: Changes in the Germany-Denmark match: Niki Zimling is going off and Christian Poulsen takes his place for Denmark. Mario Gomez is off for Germany, Miroslav Klose replaces him. ___ 2218: Nani makes up for a miss moments earlier. He picks up the ball on a counter attack down the right and plays it across the Netherlands' defense and into the path of Ronaldo who, unlike Nani, makes no mistake from close range. Unless we see something truly spectacular, the Dutch are surely out of Euro 2012 now. ___ 2215: GOAL! PORTUGAL 2, Netherlands 1 (Ronaldo) ___ 2214: Custodio replaces Raul Meireles for Portugal. ___ 2213: sdouglas80: Calculators at the ready for Group B finale. This could get confusing... (via Twitter) 2211: simonhaydon: Think some of the Portugal players at Euros should be entered into the Olympic diving competition. (via Twitter) ___ 2211: Ibrahim Afellay replaces Jetro Willems in an attacking Dutch substitution. They need to win 3-1 and hope Denmark lose to go through. At the moment, neither is happening. ___ 2210: Fabio Coentrao nealry finishes a great move from Portugal. Ronaldo picks the ball up from just outside his own penalty area and runs well into the Dutch half before picking out the run of Coentrao. He moves in on his left foot and shoots, bringing a good save from Stekelenburg. ___ 2207: Nelson Oliveira is going to come on for Portugal, in place of Helder Postiga. His last contribution of the match was that offside goal, but will it be Postiga's last contribution of the tournament, too? ___ 2200: OFFSIDE! Portugal close to taking the lead, but Postiga's effort is ruled offside after putting the ball in the net from a Ronaldo cross. ___ 2157: For the Dutch, Ron Vlaar goes close as he meets a cross but gets his header all wrong. The ball actually looks like it may have hit his shoulder on the replay, but whatever part of Vlaar it hit, it should have then found the back of the net. Instead, the ball flies high and wide from a little more than six yards out. Good chance missed for the Dutch and they are not in a position to waste anymore tonight. ___ 2154: So close for Denmark! Jakob Poulsen links up superbly with Bendtner and as the ball is returned to him outside the penalty area he sidefoots his shots inches wide of the post. Letoff for Germany. ___ 2151: Joao Moutinho looks to get Portugal in front, shooting on the bounce as Germany heads a cross away. Moutinho gets well underneath the ball though and it is very, very high over the bar. ___ 2146: The second half is underway in both games. ___ 2136: The Germans have looked threatening in attack but Denmark is still in this and has been sharp on the counter attack. ___ 2133: The Dutch got off to a superb start in their quest for a two goal victory when Van Der Vaart curled a brilliant shot into the far corner of the net. They've looked very, very vulnerable in defense though and Ronaldo exploited it to pull his team level with a cool finish. The Dutch must win at least 3-1 and hope Denmark lose to qualify now. ___ 2131: HALF TIME: DENMARK 1-1 GERMANY ___ 2130: HALF TIME: PORTUGAL 1-1 NETHERLANDS ___ 2129: Germany goes close as Khedira pokes a shot wide. The Germans have stepped up their control of the game in the last few minutes. Continued... |