Group B of

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

began on 9 June 2012 and ended on 17 June 2012. The pool was made up of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. 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 A group of death in a multi-stage tournament is a group which is unusually competitive, because the number of strong competitors in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament. Thus, i ...

" of Euro 2012. All four teams were in the top 10 of the

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

at the start of the tournament. In the first round, Denmark upset Netherlands 1–0 with a 24th-minute goal from

Michael Krohn-Dehli Michael Krohn-Dehli (; born 6 June 1983) is a Danish former professional footballer. He played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. A technically gifted player, Krohn-Dehli started his professional career in the ...

. In the next match, Germany defeated Portugal 1–0 with a 72nd-minute goal from

Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented the Germany national team over a period of 11 years between 2007 and 2018. Gómez began his professional career with ...

, 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 Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms * Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...

and a 36th-minute goal from

Hélder Postiga Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga (; born 2 August 1982) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a striker. After beginning at Porto, where he won eight items of silverware along the way, he amassed Primeira Liga totals o ...

, but with two goals from Nicklas Bendtner (41st and 80th minute), Denmark equalized. However, Portugal's

Silvestre Varela Silvestre Manuel Gonçalves Varela (born 2 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for FC Porto B as a winger. He represented mainly Porto during his career, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 268 matches and 47 goals ov ...

scored in the 87th minute to give Portugal the win. In the next match, Netherlands and Germany continued their longstanding

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

. 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 Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball c ...

, 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 Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive ...

and

Lars Bender Lars Bender (; born 27 April 1989) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right back and defensive midfielder. He is the twin brother of Sven Bender. Club career Early career Lars Bender played from 1993 to 1999 in the yo ...

scored for Germany in the 19th and 80th minutes, respectively, despite an equalizer from

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 Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant manager of Danish 2nd Division club Esbjerg fB. Van der Vaart began his c ...

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 Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

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

Notes

Standings

In the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, *The winner of Group B, Germany, advanced to play the runner-up of

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. *The runner-up of Group B, Portugal, advanced to play the winner of

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Matches

Netherlands vs Denmark

Germany vs Portugal

Denmark vs Portugal

Netherlands vs Germany

Portugal vs Netherlands

Denmark vs Germany

References

External links

UEFA Euro 2012 Group B
{{UEFA Euro 2012 finalists

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

Group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

Portugal at UEFA Euro 2012