By Mike O’Brien
Pre- tournament Group B was labelled the group of death, housing four of the top eleven ranked sides in the world. But I don’t think anyone could have predicted it turning out the way it has with the highest rated team in the group now sitting on the verge of elimination.
How it stands
| Position | Team | W | L | D | F | A | GD | Points |
| 1 | Germany |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
+2 |
6 |
| 2 | Portugal |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| 3 | Denmark |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| 4 | Netherlands |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
-2 |
0 |
I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone to see Germany sitting top of the group, they were heavy favourites to win the whole tournament before it started. Without question the biggest surprise is World Cup finalists Holland lie bottom of the group without a single point and only having scored the one goal. Portugal and Denmark were both considered to be unlucky to be drawn in this group but appear to be holding their own in the contest.
I feel the decider in this group as to who comes second will come from the winner of Portugal V Holland. Holland have to win, no other way around it, but they need more than just a win. A two goal margin will reverse the goal difference between them and Portugal and propel the Dutch to the runner up position, but even then their fate isn’t in their own hands. If Denmark take just a point from their game with Germany then Holland are out despite what happens in their game. This is as big as it can get for the Dutch, a bad performance today and they will be returning to a very negative reception back home.
Portugal V Netherlands
To the games then and the most influential game in the deciding round see’s Portugal take on Holland. Portugal looked very poor in their opener against Germany in terms of attacking prowess but have in both games looked very sharp defensively. Coming off the back of a win in one of the most thrilling games so far against Denmark they appear to have found their shooting boots. The same can’t be said however for their star man Cristiano Ronaldo. He had two glorious chances against Denmark and struck one right at the keeper and one a yard wide of the post. Ronaldo isn’t firing for Portugal and that could be a problem for them.
So far, Holland have proved that no strong attacking line up can function without a solid defence and that is something they really don’t have. They haven’t looked like the Holland of two years ago and their defence has been nothing short of shambolic. It’s very strange seeing as how three of the defenders who lined up against Germany and Denmark all took part in the World Cup campaign in South Africa. Clearly something has gone horribly wrong in the Dutch camp. It doesn’t help that the man who was the most clinical striker in the Premier League last season has looked just a shadow of his former self, scoring a fantastic goal against Germany but wasting some great chances before it. Other big name players failing to perform (Arjen Robben, Klaas Jan Huntelaar) is also a contributing factor in the Netherlands fall from grace.
This one’s difficult to predict because both teams need the win to go through. But strangely I’m going to give it too Holland. I feel that after the embarrassment of the last two games they will come out firing against Portugal. RVP’s goal against Germany will certainly help his confidence in an orange shirt and if Portugal are as poor in front of goal as they have been previously then they may struggle.
Denmark V Germany
They may have lost their last game to Portugal but Denmark showed that they are no pushovers. Coming from 2-0 down to 2-2 and losing to a great goal in the last few minutes was a shame, on the whole Portugal deserved the win but Denmark looked like pulling off one of the shocks of the tournament after Nicklas Bendtner found the net twice. So many players in the Danish team earned a lot of plaudits after their victory over Holland but some of them failed to perform against the Portuguese and that was a key reason for finding themselves 2-0 down. If they are to pull off the biggest shock yet and overcome the Germans, they will certainly need players like Eriksen, Krohn- Dehli and Bendtner to be on top form.
Germany have won both their games and have looked typically impressive in doing so. Sitting top of Group B and all but guaranteed to progress Joachim Low’s team sheet will be an interesting read. Don’t be surprised to see the same team that beat both Portugal and Holland because when have the Germans ever rested their players? One crucial starter has to be joint top goal scorer Mario Gomez. The Bayern Munich man has scored three so far and is joined by Russia’s Alan Dzagoev and Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic as the tournament’s top goal scorers. But with Gomez it’s more than just how many he’s scored, it’s the goals themselves. Against Portugal he scored a great header low across the goalkeeper and against Holland we saw a great two touch goal and a great tight angle finish. Right now Gomez is looking like the complete striker and if he plays then it is made even more likely that Germany will get the win.
On the whole I see Germany finishing the group with a perfect record but the Danish have already proven they can cause an upset but I feel Germany is just a step too far.