The Last Matchday in Group B or How Ronaldo Humiliated Netherlands

Supposedly, Cristiano Ronaldo promised that he would score three in his next game, after playing so badly against Denmark.

Well, he didn't score three, but he came damn close.

If Ronaldo played every game like this one, maybe he would be the best player in the world. (In my humble opinion, Messi is still the best.)
He scored two goals, hit the post twice, and played a perfect pass to Nani, at 1-1, that should have resulted in another Portuguese goal (- not even to mention that every time he got the ball in the Dutch half there was danger).

But let's start from the start.

Van der Vaart. Why was van Bommel inserted in the Dutch starting eleven instead of van der Vaart, in the matches against Denmark and Germany?
Rafael van der Vaart scored the first of the six goals on this day. And he would almost equalize at 2 for Netherlands, in the second half, with a similar effort that hit the post.
But, getting back to the first goal, it was a great shot from outside the box. And the Dutch began hoping. (This was just eleven minutes after kick-off.)
They needed a second one, and a German victory in the other match, to go through.

The Germans seemed on track for that scenario, too. On his 100th appearance in a Germany jersey, Lukas Podolski (in minute 19) took advantage of bad Danish defending to slot the ball into the top of the net from a few meters out. All three bottom teams, Portugal, Denmark and Netherlands were on three points at that stage, but the Portuguese and the Danes had identical best head-to-head records, 3-3, against Netherlands, leaving Holland, with 1-1, at the bottom of the group. Portugal would have advanced, because of better UEFA national team coefficient, the next tie-breaking criterion that could have been applied to separate them from Denmark's team.

But Denmark hit back. Only five minutes after Podolski's strike, the Danes showed great aerial agility in the German penalty box, and Krohn-Dehli used his head to deflect another header from a team-mate past the helpless Neuer. At this point, Denmark was through to the quarter-finals.

However, Portugal was pressing. And, in the 28th minute, Ronaldo finally got in behind the Dutch defense. He defeated Stekelenburg with a cool strike. Portugal was back in second place, again, just like at the start of the match.

Portugal continued to press, because they knew a Danish goal could eliminate them. And, obviously, the Denmark players could score on Germany.

But a 2-1 victory for Denmark could also eliminate the Germans, on the other hand, if Portugal also happened to win.

And, what do you know, after a few huge chances missed for Portugal, they did finally take the lead. In the 74th minute, Ronaldo again was found in the Dutch penalty area, with room to maneuver, and he had no problem scoring.

Now, at 2-1 for Portugal, and the Danes pressing in the other match, just one goal could have seen the Germans forced to pack their bags.

One goal did come, but it was scored by the Germans, though.
It was heartbreak for Denmark, as they were caught too advanced, and Lars Bender (80) obtained the victory for Germany. So, Denmark was the team that was going to go home.

2-1 in both matches. But not for the teams that desperately needed to win.

And these results clearly divided the four teams into four separate classes: the team that beat everybody else (on 9 points), the team that only lost to the best team but beat the other two (with 6), the team that could only beat the bottom team (with 3), and, of course, the team that lost to everybody (on 0 points). Or Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Netherlands, in that order.
Netherlands: what a disappointment!

Highlights from Denmark - Germany 1-2:

Дания - Германия 1:2(1) by landsgraaf

Highlights from Portugal - Netherlands 2-1:

Group B - Possible Scenarios

Here's what could happen on the final matchday of Group B:

1) Portugal wins & Denmark wins
1-1. Denmark wins 1-0:
Portugal 6p, Denmark 6p, Germany 6 p, Netherlands 0p
(Portugal and Denmark would have identical best head-to-head records in the three-way tie against Germany, eliminating the Germans, but Portugal would win the group thanks to better goal difference or more goals scored or higher UEFA national team coefficient.)
1-2. Denmark wins 3-2 and Portugal wins 1-0 or 2-1:
Denmark 6p, Germany 6p, Portugal 6p, Netherlands 0p
(Portugal and Germany would have identical worst head-to-head records in the three-way tie against Denmark, but Germany would advance thanks to having scored one more goal or a higher UEFA national team coefficient.)
1-3. Denmark wins by any score other than 1-0 and 3-2 or wins 3-2 and Portugal wins by any score other than 1-0 or 2-1:
Denmark 6p, Portugal 6p, Germany 6p, Netherlands 0p
(Denmark and Portugal would advance because Germany would have the worst head-to-head record against Denmark and Portugal or worse goal difference than Portugal or fewer goals scored than Portugal)

2) Portugal wins & draw in the other match:
Germany 7p, Portugal 6p, Denmark 4p, Netherlands 0p

3) Portugal wins & Germany wins:
Germany 9p, Portugal 6p, Denmark 3p, Netherlands 0p

4) draw in the first match & Denmark wins
Denmark 6p, Germany 6p, Portugal 4p, Netherlands 1p
(Denmark would win the group because of the head-to-head record.)

5) draws in both matches:
Germany 7p, Portugal 4p, Denmark 4p, Netherlands 1p
(Portugal would advance because of the head-to-head record.)

6) draw in the first match & Germany wins:
Germany 9p, Portugal 4p, Denmark 3p, Netherlands 1p

7) Netherlands wins & Denmark wins:
Denmark 6p, Germany 6p, Netherlands 3p, Portugal 3p
(Denmark would win the group because of the head-to-head record, and Portugal would finish bottom because of the head-to-head record.)

8) Netherlands wins & draw in the other match
Germany 7p, Denmark 4p, Netherlands 3p, Portugal 3p
(Netherlands would finish third because of the head-to-head record.)

9) Netherlands wins & Germany wins
9-1. Netherlands wins 1-0 and Germany wins 1-0 or by two or more goals:
Germany 9p, Portugal 3p, Denmark 3p, Netherlands 3p
(Portugal and Denmark would have identical best head-to-head records against Netherlands, but Portugal would advance thanks to superior goal difference or being ranked higher in the UEFA national team coefficient rankings.)
9-2. Netherlands wins 1-0 and Germany wins by one goal but not 1-0:
Germany 9p, Denmark 3p, Portugal 3p, Netherlands 3p
(Portugal and Denmark would have identical best head-to-head records against Netherlands, but Denmark would advance thanks to scoring more goals than Portugal in the tournament.)
9-3. Netherlands wins by one goal but not 1-0:
Germany 9p, Portugal 3p, Netherlands or Denmark 3p, Denmark or Netherlands 3p
(Portugal would advance because of scoring more goals in the head-to-head records against Netherlands and Denmark, while Netherlands and Denmark would be separated depending on how many goals Netherlands scores against Portugal and/or the severity of Denmark's defeat, but this is not extremely important since both teams would be out and very few might care who finished third and who finished fourth.)
9-4. Netherlands wins by two goals or more:
Germany 9p, Netherlands 3p, Denmark 3p, Portugal 3p
(Netherlands would advance because of better goal difference in the head-to-head records against Denmark and Portugal, leaving Portugal with the worst goal difference.)

Strong Nerves

... Not from Cristiano Ronaldo, that's for sure.

But the Portuguese team had their mettle tested quite hardly in the game against Denmark.

Pepe (in minute 24) scored a goal quite similar to Shevchenko's second against Sweden. And when Postiga (36) put the ball in the net for the second time, with a perfect volley, it seemed like the contest was over.

However, only 5 minutes after Postiga's goal, badly-played offside trap made another victim again, when Bendtner only had to head the ball into the empty net from a few meters, after Krohn-Dehli's smart moves destroyed the Portuguese maneuver.

It stayed like that for almost forty minutes, excluding the half-time break.
And then the Danish's persistence paid off. Jacobsen's long cross was missed by Pepe, and Bendtner again scored.

It was 2-2, with ten minutes left, but to their credit the Portuguese were not discouraged.

Silvestre Varela, the attacker who missed a very good chance against Germany, came on again as a substitute, but this time he scored. After missing the volley shot, Varela took advantage that the ball was still at his feet, and managed an unstoppable shot to the left of Andersen.

All nice and good for Portugal, even though they gave up a two-goal lead, but they just have to be worried about Ronaldo missing three chances to score, including a huge one, alone with the Danish goalkeeper, at 2-1. (That would have probably settled the tie, and Ronaldo would not have heard the end of it from the Portuguese press if the game had ended 2-2.)

Highlights:

Very Unexpected

Another very disappointing performance was that of the Dutch team, in their first match of Group B, against the always-unpredictable Danes.

Maybe Denmark did not seem like the kind of team that could challenge Germany, Netherlands and Portugal for supremacy in Group B.
But they did surprise Holland.

Yes, Krohn-Dehli's goal (in minute 24) come totally out of nowhere, but the Dutch players had more than 66 minutes, plus a break, to re-group and get back into the game. They didn't, and now it's not looking too good for them. They have to play Germany next, and that's always a fiercely-disputed encounter which could have any outcome. (For example, even if Netherlands gets a point from Germany, they must beat Portugal in the last match or else they're out.)

After the match, the Dutch coach, Bert van Marwijk, said not to blame Robin van Persie. Of course not. He is to blame, not Robin van Persie!
After that unexpected loss against Sweden in the qualifiers, the Netherlands team has been playing worse and worse. They just don't seem the same team that was getting those unbelievable winning streaks anymore.

Meanwhile, Denmark certainly looks like it has the potential to be the dark horse of the competition, or at least of this group, the team that nobody expects to come out on top, but which has the potential to do so.

Highlights: