The Dutch, the Germans and Ronaldo all in one Group

Group B

by Dominic John

Overview:

Group B has been dubbed the “group of death” due to its ridiculously deep talent pool. The group stage play in this group will be one for the ages.

Predicting a winner out of this group is tough but you really cannot count out Portugal. Having perhaps the best player in the world in Christiano Ronaldo, you have to think that the odds are good if he performs.

But World Cup finalists Netherlands and their bitter rivals Germany rarely fail to make an impression at these big tournaments. Does that mean anyone is writing off Denmark? Never again, as they say!

Denmark

-Christian Eriksen is no longer the young boy he once was at the world cup in 2010. He will be relied upon to thrust Denmark into the finals. Along with the veterans, Daniel Agger and Nicklas Bendtner. Lindegaard will see starting duty in goal as Stoke Keeper Thomas Sorensen is out with a back injury. A 2-0 win over Australia was their last friendly with Danile Agger (PK) and Andres Bjelland scoring.

Germany

-Germany are heavy favorites in the eyes of many, having won all of their qualifying matches more than convincingly. The team is stacked with stars in every position.

Philipp Lahm's side will have matured since 2010 / Photo: Denise McCooey

They beat Israel 2-0 in their last outing with Ozil, Khedira, captain Philipp Lahm, Muller and Per Mertsesacker all starting although they did lose the two friendlies before that, to France and Switzerland.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze, Arsenal defender Mertesacker, Lazio striker Miroslav Klose and Schweinsteiger are all returning from recent injuries and available.

Bastian Schweinsteiger strained his left calf in the Champions League final but has been cleared to play.

Eight of the Bayern Munich team which lost the Champions League final to Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out a fortnight ago are in the Germany squad and they’ll have to pick their heads up pretty quick.

That was club and this is international.

If the World Cup 2010 came one tournament too early for this new look German side, 2012 could see Joachim Löw’s team peak.

Netherlands

-Runners up in the World Cup, hungry for hardware. This is their next big outing on the world stage. They are out to prove that they can win it; playing with world class players should help.

They have experience as well as talent. Names such as Van Bommel, Nigel de Jong, Sneijder, Kuyt, Robben and of course the goal machine of the EPL this year that is Robin Van Persie. Now the Dutch also have the option of Huntelaar up front who has been in great form for his country as of late.

Needless to say, coach Bert van Marwijk has some shuffeling to do and some decisions to make.

They won all qualifiers pretty handily except for their last match that resulted in a 3-2 loss at home to Sweden.

Their 6-0 swamping of  Northern Ireland sent out all the right signals to the others

Portugal

-The question everyone is asking of this team is, will Ronaldo’s brilliance shine through and give this team the results they need?

They didn’t exactly breeze through qualifying and it has left questions such as this to be asked of Paulo Bento and his Portugal side.

With a great supporting cast such as Meireles and Nani, the sky really is the limit for Ronaldo and the Portuguese.  A surprise 1-3 loss to Turkey was not the ideal preparation though and their opening match with the Germans may define their tournament.