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.
Teams Draw position Team Pot Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Finalsappearance Lastappearance Previous bestperformance UEFA RankingsNovember 2011 FIFA RankingsJune 2012 B1 1 Group E winner 6 September 2011 9th 2008 Winners (1988) 2 4 B2 4 Group H winner 11 October 2011 8th 2004 Winners (1992) 11 9 B3 2 Group A winner 2 September 2011 11th 2008 Winners (1972, 1980, 1996) 3 3 B4 3 Play-off winner 15 November 2011 6th 2008 Runners-up (2004) 9 10
Notes
Standings
In the quarter-finals, The winner of Group B, Germany, advanced to play the runner-up of Group A, Greece. The runner-up of Group B, Portugal, advanced to play the winner of Group A, Czech Republic.
Matches
Netherlands vs Denmark
GK 1 Maarten StekelenburgRB 2 Gregory van der Wiel CB 3 John HeitingaCB 13Ron VlaarLB 15Jetro WillemsCM 8 Nigel de Jong CM 6 Mark van Bommel (c) RW 11Arjen RobbenAM 10Wesley SneijderLW 20Ibrahim Afellay CF 16Robin van PersieSubstitutions:MF 23Rafael van der Vaart FW 9 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar FW 7 Dirk Kuyt Manager:Bert van Marwijk GK 1 Stephan AndersenRB 6 Lars JacobsenCB 3 Simon KjærCB 4 Daniel Agger (c)LB 5 Simon Poulsen CM 7 William Kvist CM 21Niki ZimlingRW 10Dennis Rommedahl AM 8 Christian Eriksen LW 9 Michael Krohn-DehliCF 11Nicklas BendtnerSubstitutions:MF 14Lasse Schøne FW 23Tobias Mikkelsen Manager:Morten Olsen
Man of the Match: Michael Krohn-Dehli (Denmark)
Assistant referees: Primoz Arhar (Slovenia) Matej Žunič (Slovenia) Fourth official: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic) Additional assistant referees: Matej Jug (Slovenia) Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia) Reserve assistant referee: Roman Slyško (Slovakia)
Germany vs Portugal
GK 1 Manuel NeuerRB 20Jérôme Boateng CB 5 Mats HummelsCB 14Holger Badstuber LB 16Philipp Lahm (c)CM 6 Sami KhediraCM 7 Bastian SchweinsteigerRW 13Thomas Müller AM 8 Mesut Özil LW 10Lukas PodolskiCF 23Mario Gómez Substitutions:FW 11Miroslav Klose MF 18Toni Kroos MF 15Lars Bender Manager:Joachim Löw GK 12Rui PatrícioRB 21João PereiraCB 2 Bruno AlvesCB 3 PepeLB 5 Fábio Coentrão CM 16Raul Meireles CM 4 Miguel VelosoCM 8 João MoutinhoRF 17NaniCF 23Hélder Postiga LF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c)Substitutions:FW 11Nélson Oliveira FW 18Silvestre Varela Manager:Paulo Bento
Man of the Match: Mesut Özil (Germany)
Assistant referees: Frédéric Cano (France) Michaël Annonier (France) Fourth official: Marcin Borski (Poland) Additional assistant referees: Fredy Fautrel (France) Ruddy Buquet (France) Reserve assistant referee: Marcin Borkowski (Poland)
Denmark vs Portugal
GK 1 Stephan AndersenRB 6 Lars Jacobsen CB 3 Simon KjærCB 4 Daniel Agger (c)LB 5 Simon PoulsenDM 7 William KvistCM 21Niki Zimling RW 10Dennis Rommedahl AM 8 Christian EriksenLW 9 Michael Krohn-Dehli CF 11Nicklas BendtnerSubstitutions:MF 19Jakob Poulsen FW 23Tobias Mikkelsen MF 14Lasse Schøne Manager:Morten Olsen GK 12Rui PatrícioRB 21João PereiraCB 2 Bruno AlvesCB 3 PepeLB 5 Fábio CoentrãoCM 16Raul Meireles CM 4 Miguel VelosoCM 8 João MoutinhoRF 17Nani CF 23Hélder Postiga LF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c) Substitutions:FW 11Nélson Oliveira FW 18Silvestre Varela DF 14Rolando Manager:Paulo Bento
Man of the Match: Pepe (Portugal)
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
GK 1 Maarten StekelenburgRB 2 Gregory van der WielCB 3 John HeitingaCB 4 Joris MathijsenLB 15Jetro Willems CM 8 Nigel de Jong CM 6 Mark van Bommel (c) RW 11Arjen Robben AM 10Wesley SneijderLW 20Ibrahim Afellay CF 16Robin van PersieSubstitutions:MF 23Rafael van der Vaart FW 9 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar FW 7 Dirk Kuyt Manager:Bert van Marwijk GK 1 Manuel NeuerRB 20Jérôme Boateng CB 5 Mats HummelsCB 14Holger BadstuberLB 16Philipp Lahm (c)CM 6 Sami KhediraCM 7 Bastian SchweinsteigerRW 13Thomas Müller AM 8 Mesut Özil LW 10Lukas PodolskiCF 23Mario Gómez Substitutions:FW 11Miroslav Klose MF 18Toni Kroos MF 15Lars Bender 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
GK 12Rui PatrícioRB 21João Pereira CB 2 Bruno AlvesCB 3 PepeLB 5 Fábio CoentrãoCM 16Raul Meireles CM 4 Miguel VelosoCM 8 João MoutinhoRF 17Nani CF 23Hélder Postiga LF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c)Substitutions:FW 11Nélson Oliveira MF 6 Custódio DF 14Rolando Manager:Paulo Bento GK 1 Maarten StekelenburgRB 2 Gregory van der WielCB 13Ron VlaarCB 4 Joris MathijsenLB 15Jetro Willems DM 8 Nigel de JongCM 23Rafael van der Vaart (c)RW 11Arjen RobbenAM 16Robin van Persie LW 10Wesley SneijderCF 9 Klaas-Jan HuntelaarSubstitutions:MF 20Ibrahim Afellay 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
GK 1 Stephan AndersenRB 6 Lars JacobsenCB 3 Simon KjærCB 4 Daniel Agger (c)LB 5 Simon PoulsenDM 7 William KvistCM 19Jakob Poulsen CM 21Niki Zimling RW 8 Christian EriksenLW 9 Michael Krohn-DehliCF 11Nicklas BendtnerSubstitutions:MF 2 Christian Poulsen FW 23Tobias Mikkelsen Manager:Morten Olsen GK 1 Manuel NeuerRB 15Lars BenderCB 5 Mats HummelsCB 14Holger BadstuberLB 16Philipp Lahm (c)CM 6 Sami KhediraCM 7 Bastian SchweinsteigerRW 13Thomas Müller AM 8 Mesut ÖzilLW 10Lukas Podolski CF 23Mario Gómez Substitutions:MF 9 André Schürrle FW 11Miroslav Klose MF 18Toni Kroos 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)
See also Denmark at the UEFA European Championship Germany at the UEFA European Championship Netherlands at the UEFA European Championship Portugal at the UEFA European Championship
References
External links UEFA Euro 2012 Group B