Group B of UEFA Euro 2012 began on 9 June 2012 and ended on 17 June 2012. The pool was made up of the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Portugal. Germany and Portugal progressed to the quarter-finals, while Denmark and the Netherlands were eliminated from the tournament.
Group B was dubbed by many the "group of death" of Euro 2012. All four teams were in the top 10 of the FIFA World Rankings at the start of the tournament.
In the first round, Denmark upset Netherlands 1–0 with a 24th-minute goal from Michael Krohn-Dehli. In the next match, Germany defeated Portugal 1–0 with a 72nd-minute goal from Mario Gómez, leaving Germany and Denmark tied at three points at the top of the group with Portugal and the Netherlands at the bottom of the group with no points.
In the second round, when Portugal played Denmark, Portugal went ahead 2–0 with a 24th-minute goal from Pepe and a 36th-minute goal from Hélder Postiga, but with two goals from Nicklas Bendtner (41st and 80th minute), Denmark equalized. However, Portugal's Silvestre Varela scored in the 87th minute to give Portugal the win. In the next match, Netherlands and Germany continued their longstanding rivalry. Striker Mario Gómez scored twice in the first half (24th and 38th minute) to put the Germans ahead 2–0, and despite a 73rd-minute goal from Robin van Persie, Germany won 2–1.
Leading into the third round, all four teams were still able to qualify and no team was already qualified, despite the fact that Germany had 6 points and Netherlands had 0 points. Ultimately, Germany defeated Denmark 2–1 after Lukas Podolski and Lars Bender scored for Germany in the 19th and 80th minutes, respectively, despite an equalizer from Michael Krohn-Dehli in the 24th minute. In the other match (played simultaneously in order to prevent the teams from gaining a strategic advantage by knowing the result of the other match on the same day) between Portugal and Netherlands, Rafael van der Vaart scored to give the Netherlands a lead for the first time in the entire tournament, but after much criticism in the media for his failure to score in the first two matches, Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to secure a 2–1 victory for Portugal. With these results, Germany and Portugal qualified, in first and second place, respectively, and Denmark and Netherlands were eliminated.
Assistant referees: Alasdair Ross (Scotland) Derek Rose (Scotland) Fourth official: Viktor Shvetsov (Ukraine) Additional assistant referees: William Collum (Scotland) Euan Norris (Scotland) Reserve assistant referee: Oleksandr Voytyuk (Ukraine)
Netherlands vs Germany
Netherlands
1–2
Germany
Van Persie 73'
Report
Gómez 24', 38'
Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv
Attendance: 37,750
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Netherlands
Germany
GK
1
Maarten Stekelenburg
RB
2
Gregory van der Wiel
CB
3
John Heitinga
CB
4
Joris Mathijsen
LB
15
Jetro Willems
90'
CM
8
Nigel de Jong
80'
CM
6
Mark van Bommel (c)
46'
RW
11
Arjen Robben
83'
AM
10
Wesley Sneijder
LW
20
Ibrahim Afellay
46'
CF
16
Robin van Persie
Substitutions:
MF
23
Rafael van der Vaart
46'
FW
9
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
46'
FW
7
Dirk Kuyt
83'
Manager:
Bert van Marwijk
GK
1
Manuel Neuer
RB
20
Jérôme Boateng
87'
CB
5
Mats Hummels
CB
14
Holger Badstuber
LB
16
Philipp Lahm (c)
CM
6
Sami Khedira
CM
7
Bastian Schweinsteiger
RW
13
Thomas Müller
90+2'
AM
8
Mesut Özil
81'
LW
10
Lukas Podolski
CF
23
Mario Gómez
72'
Substitutions:
FW
11
Miroslav Klose
72'
MF
18
Toni Kroos
81'
MF
15
Lars Bender
90+2'
Manager:
Joachim Löw
Man of the Match: Mario Gómez (Germany)
Assistant referees: Stefan Wittberg (Sweden) Mathias Klasenius (Sweden) Fourth official: Tom Harald Hagen (Norway) Additional assistant referees: Markus Strömbergsson (Sweden) Stefan Johannesson (Sweden) Reserve assistant referee: Damien MacGraith (Republic of Ireland)
Portugal vs Netherlands
Portugal
2–1
Netherlands
Ronaldo 28', 74'
Report
Van der Vaart 11'
Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv
Attendance: 37,445
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Portugal
Netherlands
GK
12
Rui Patrício
RB
21
João Pereira
90+2'
CB
2
Bruno Alves
CB
3
Pepe
LB
5
Fábio Coentrão
CM
16
Raul Meireles
72'
CM
4
Miguel Veloso
CM
8
João Moutinho
RF
17
Nani
87'
CF
23
Hélder Postiga
64'
LF
7
Cristiano Ronaldo (c)
Substitutions:
FW
11
Nélson Oliveira
64'
MF
6
Custódio
72'
DF
14
Rolando
87'
Manager:
Paulo Bento
GK
1
Maarten Stekelenburg
RB
2
Gregory van der Wiel
CB
13
Ron Vlaar
CB
4
Joris Mathijsen
LB
15
Jetro Willems
51'
67'
DM
8
Nigel de Jong
CM
23
Rafael van der Vaart (c)
RW
11
Arjen Robben
AM
16
Robin van Persie
69'
LW
10
Wesley Sneijder
CF
9
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Substitutions:
MF
20
Ibrahim Afellay
67'
Manager:
Bert van Marwijk
Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Assistant referees: Renato Faverani (Italy) Andrea Stefani (Italy) Fourth official: Martin Atkinson (England) Additional assistant referees: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy) Paolo Tagliavento (Italy) Reserve assistant referee: Michael Mullarkey (England)
Denmark vs Germany
Denmark
1–2
Germany
Krohn-Dehli 24'
Report
Podolski 19'
Bender 80'
Arena Lviv, Lviv
Attendance: 32,990
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
Denmark
Germany
GK
1
Stephan Andersen
RB
6
Lars Jacobsen
CB
3
Simon Kjær
CB
4
Daniel Agger (c)
LB
5
Simon Poulsen
DM
7
William Kvist
CM
19
Jakob Poulsen
82'
CM
21
Niki Zimling
78'
RW
8
Christian Eriksen
LW
9
Michael Krohn-Dehli
CF
11
Nicklas Bendtner
Substitutions:
MF
2
Christian Poulsen
78'
FW
23
Tobias Mikkelsen
82'
Manager:
Morten Olsen
GK
1
Manuel Neuer
RB
15
Lars Bender
CB
5
Mats Hummels
CB
14
Holger Badstuber
LB
16
Philipp Lahm (c)
CM
6
Sami Khedira
CM
7
Bastian Schweinsteiger
RW
13
Thomas Müller
84'
AM
8
Mesut Özil
LW
10
Lukas Podolski
64'
CF
23
Mario Gómez
74'
Substitutions:
MF
9
André Schürrle
64'
FW
11
Miroslav Klose
74'
MF
18
Toni Kroos
84'
Manager:
Joachim Löw
Man of the Match: Lukas Podolski (Germany)
Assistant referees: Roberto Alonso Fernández (Spain) Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (Spain) Fourth official: Mark Clattenburg (England) Additional assistant referees: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain) Carlos Clos Gómez (Spain) Reserve assistant referee: Peter Kirkup (England)
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