Krohn-Dehli slots home for a Denmark win
Conor Bates
Sports Editor
In every competition there is a designated “group of death”. Euro 2012 being no exception saw Group B fulfil this role quite nicely, with tournament favourites Germany and the Netherlands meeting perennial underachievers Portugal and the undeservedly under-fancied Denmark in the opening round. With all four teams deemed to be of sufficient quality in the infamous Group of Death situation, intense pressure, shock socrelines and surprise eliminations are usually the order of the day for the teams involved. This year’s scenario lived up to its reputation on the second day of play.
Netherlands 0 – 1 Denmark
When a World Cup runner-up meets the so-called minnow of the group, the result should seem fairly logical. With class at every position and a superlative attacking flair, matched only by Spain, the Netherlands were expected to whitewash Denmark and roll on to their headline clash with Germany next week. As predicted the Dutchmen came out firing, probing the Danish defence through Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and hitman Robin van Persie. For the first twenty minutes Holland were incomparable in possession, but couldn’t provide the final touch to capitalise on their good play. An array of chances were passed up by the Oranje, in particular the talismanic van Persie who bundled wide a few gilt edged opportunities. Denmark were average in defence, with only Daniel Agger putting enough pressure on the Arsenal striker to spare their blushes. In reality, they got very lucky, on a number of occasions.
However, while the Dutch launched forward with aplomb in attack, they weren’t too solid at the back themselves. Seasoned winger Dennis Rommedahl left 18-year-old Jetro Willems in his tracks on many occasions, and Nicklas Bendtner did his best to hold up possession without much resistance from Vlaar and Heitinga. When the 25 minute mark struck, the Dutch were left to rue their wastefulness and ask questions about their dodgy defending. In a moment of incisiveness, Michael Krohn-Dehli latched onto a pass inside the box, turned a woeful Heitinga and slid the ball under the legs of Maarten Stekelenburg. The Sparta Rotterdam midfielder gave the Danes an unexpected, but not undeserved lead, and heaped the pressure onto the shoulders of the Netherlands.
Once again the Dutch players showed impeccable finesse on the ball. Their touches were almost majestic, typified by a piece of Ibrahim Afellay footwork which resulted in a blistering shot just over the bar. Right until the break, and beyond, Holland squandered their sparkling play, with the Premier League’s top scorer van Persie slipping, falling and generally undoing his team’s hard work. All in all, the Dutch had 29 chances and only six of them found the target.
As the game progressed through the second half, the Danes became good value for their lead. Daniel Agger and Simon Kjaer showed resilience at centre-half, and their forward movement did enough to keep the Netherlands on their toes. The midfield battle was evenly matched as both teams sought to use their width and play at pace: the hallmarks of any good attacking team.
With time moving on and a win becoming more and more elusive, Bert van Marwijk decided to throw the dice and change his point of attack. He substituted Afellay for Schalke striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar, and removed van der Wiel in favour of Dirk Kuyt. However, it wasn’t to be for Holland, and they only have themselves to blame. Again and again the Dutch misfired at the crucial moment, and although their build-up play was scintillating, they were ultimately going nowhere fast. A moment of controversy arose when Lars Jacobsen handled the ball in the penalty box, but the referee dismissed the pleas of the Oranje: truth be told, had it been given, it would have been Holland’s best chance to salvage something from a poor performance in front of goal.
As it was though, Denmark held on for an impressive win, and gave us the first drama in this year’s Group of Death. The Netherlands now have a mammoth task ahead of them as anything less than a draw against bitter rivals Germany will see them crash out at the first hurdle. Expect Huntelaar to play the lone striker role ahead of van Persie in the next game, as Holland can’t afford any more slip-ups (literally and figuratively). The Danes move into the preferred position in the table, but will know that they will have to up their game against Portugal. Denmark were fortunate that an average performance all round was helped by a singular moment of heroism from Krohn-Dehli and some poor Dutch striking. However, they will not fear Portugal, as they are ranked higher than them in the World, and topped their qualification group ahead of them. All things considered, this result has really opened up the group.
Germany 1 – 0 Portugal
The later game promised so much as a competition. The mechanical Germans were lead from the back by Philipp Lahm, and with star names like Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Ozil and the mercurial Mario Gomez they would be a very difficult team to beat. Portugal are noted underachievers in major tournaments. Usually the lofty heights of the quarter-final stage prove enough for the Iberian side as they bow out. However, with the equally mercurial Cristiano Ronaldo leading Portuguese team, and an equally abundant selection of stars to fill in the numbers, this affair had goal-fest written all over it.
Expectations can be dashed so easily. It was a poor game from start to finish, with neither side getting into third gear in the ninety minutes. In the exposition, Podolski missed a number of shots, as the Germans looked the mildly more dangerous of the two sides. Mesut Ozil tried to marshal his team from midfield, but nothing was coming from his forward men that he could use. Gomez was certainly not on form, it appeared, and the Germans overall were getting bogged down in midfield.
Similarly, Portugal were struggling. Ronaldo didn’t touch the ball for the first ten minutes, and by the 20 minute mark, had only held the ball on 3 occasions, none of which were inspiring. As the half plodded along both Manuel Neuer and Rui Patricio were forced into action a few times. Both ‘keepers performed admirably in their duties and snuffed out any potential outlets in attack. On the whole, the play from both sides was too slow and uninventive. Both sets of forwards had their service cut off on a regular basis, and only a few chances from Thomas Muller, and some decent play from Nani, raised any eyebrows. The chance of the half fell to Pepe, who struck the underside of the crossbar following a corner. The Portuguese claimed for a goal, but the ball never crossed the line.
The second half provided little relief from the lethargic pace of both squads. Jerome Boateng made an excellent block on Cristiano Ronaldo, as he, Lahm and Mats Hummels began to stand out as the beacons of the German side in this encounter. With Germany needing to score, the sight of Miroslav Klose warming up appeared to give Mario Gomez the impetus he needed. A cross from Sami Khedira, which took a huge deflection, found its way to the Bayern Munich target man, who headed past Patricio, into the far corner. The breakthrough goal, was indeed followed by Gomez being substituted minutes later; perhaps he will get his game in gear sooner the next time around.
In retaliation, Portugal upped their game slightly, living a bit more dangerously in attack. Nani hit the crossbar with a cross, Hummels and Badstuber quashed a number of attacks, and Neuer saved from Ronaldo, and more vitally, from Varela’s close range shot. The clock ticked down, and Portugal became more and more desperate. The only real action of the closing minutes was a collision between Bruno Alves and Schweinsteiger, which the German came out worse off from. Joachim Low was naturally worried about his maestro’s condition, but the ever impressive German seemed to be fine.
The final whistle came with Germany taking all three points into their landmark game with Holland. Portugal play Denmark on the same day, and in truth, all of the teams really need a win for their own sake. Both Germany and Portugal will need to improve their link-up play and the pace of their games if they have designs on success in the competition. Cristiano Ronaldo will definitely need to be more involved against Denmark if they plan on avenging this first loss.
In essence, the Group of Death has given us what we asked for. Tension, shocks and the potential for a surprise elimination. Although the football was compromised by volumes of pressure, and was by no means spectacular, this group is wide open, and the second round of games could now prove absolutely decisive. It’s no cliché to say that anything could happen here, and realistically, anyone could go through.
Tune into Spain v Italy at 5pm today, and the big game, Ireland v Croatia at 7.45pm.
