It's a do or die situation for Portugal as they face Denmark in a Group B encounter tonight.Denmark shares the top position in the league table with Germany, after their upset victory over the Dutch in the opener.
On the other hand, Portugal who lost to Germany 1-0 is under immense pressure. A defeat today would mean end of road for the Portuguese, even coach Paulo Bento acknowledges this fact.
The last time these two teams faced each other was in October last year, where Portugal suffered a 2-1 loss to the Danish side. But that doesn't appear to be a concern for the Bento, who said, "I think there is no favorite for tomorrow. Two teams eye-to-eye with each other."
However, a sense of worry certainly seemed in the coach's statement, as he said, "Of course the result of the first match could make Denmark appear in an advantage. But we will give 100 per cent."
There were rumors all around that, Cristiano Ronaldo had walked out of Euro 2012 - after he got engaged in a war of words with Luis Figo and Rui Costa after Portugal's 1-0 loss to Germany.
But Bento confirmed that Ronaldo will captain his team for tonight's make-or-break encounter with Denmark, and reacted furiously to false claims.
On the other side, Denmark sits pretty cool as they have no injury concerns and Coach Morten Olsen is most likely to announce an unchanged squad.
The second match of the day would feature last editions runner up Germany facing Netherlands.
Situation of Netherlands is quite similar to Portugal after their surprise defeat to Denmark. Only a win would guarantee the Dutch something to play for towards the final stages of Group B matches.
Netherlands have received a boost with the return of Joris Mathijsen, who missed out the match against Denmark owing to a hamstring injury.
Van Marwijk seemed quite confident with his team as he said, "We're preparing for one of the most important games for the past few years," he further added, "How to beat them? I won't tell you that because I'll tell my own team that. The Germans are very strong but we can also beat them.
How we do that and where we do that, I won't tell you now."
Germany is almost certain of fielding the same line up against Holland, that defeated Portugal 1-0, and there seems no major injury concern for Joachim Loew. The only headache of the German Coach is the disoriented attack of the team, which had a low key performance against the Portuguese.
The German coach acted quite neutral in as he said, "Both teams have fantastic options up front, our defense will be under pressure; what's important is the players show how good we are as a team."
Both the matches today may act as possible Group B deciders. And Denmark would certainly be hoping for a win against Portugal, while will be counting on Germany to win theirs, as it would mean a certain entry of them into the final eight.
On the other hand, Portugal who lost to Germany 1-0 is under immense pressure. A defeat today would mean end of road for the Portuguese, even coach Paulo Bento acknowledges this fact.
The last time these two teams faced each other was in October last year, where Portugal suffered a 2-1 loss to the Danish side. But that doesn't appear to be a concern for the Bento, who said, "I think there is no favorite for tomorrow. Two teams eye-to-eye with each other."
However, a sense of worry certainly seemed in the coach's statement, as he said, "Of course the result of the first match could make Denmark appear in an advantage. But we will give 100 per cent."
There were rumors all around that, Cristiano Ronaldo had walked out of Euro 2012 - after he got engaged in a war of words with Luis Figo and Rui Costa after Portugal's 1-0 loss to Germany.
But Bento confirmed that Ronaldo will captain his team for tonight's make-or-break encounter with Denmark, and reacted furiously to false claims.
On the other side, Denmark sits pretty cool as they have no injury concerns and Coach Morten Olsen is most likely to announce an unchanged squad.
The second match of the day would feature last editions runner up Germany facing Netherlands.
Situation of Netherlands is quite similar to Portugal after their surprise defeat to Denmark. Only a win would guarantee the Dutch something to play for towards the final stages of Group B matches.
Netherlands have received a boost with the return of Joris Mathijsen, who missed out the match against Denmark owing to a hamstring injury.
Van Marwijk seemed quite confident with his team as he said, "We're preparing for one of the most important games for the past few years," he further added, "How to beat them? I won't tell you that because I'll tell my own team that. The Germans are very strong but we can also beat them.
How we do that and where we do that, I won't tell you now."
Germany is almost certain of fielding the same line up against Holland, that defeated Portugal 1-0, and there seems no major injury concern for Joachim Loew. The only headache of the German Coach is the disoriented attack of the team, which had a low key performance against the Portuguese.
The German coach acted quite neutral in as he said, "Both teams have fantastic options up front, our defense will be under pressure; what's important is the players show how good we are as a team."
Both the matches today may act as possible Group B deciders. And Denmark would certainly be hoping for a win against Portugal, while will be counting on Germany to win theirs, as it would mean a certain entry of them into the final eight.
Keyword- Football News | Latest Football News | Football Blog | Blog for Football | Latest Soccer News
No comments:
Post a Comment