WARSAW, POLAND (AP) - Germany beat Denmark 2-1 and a Ronaldo-inspired Portugal beat the Netherlands by the same score in the final Group B matches at the European Championship on Sunday. The Germans and Portuguese are now in the last eight.
Here is a running account of the action. All times are local to Poland.
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2247: Monday sees the resolution of Group C. Defending champion Spain plays Croatia in Gdansk and Italy takes on Ireland in Poznan. The Irish are already out of the tournament and will only be playing for pride but Croatia, Italy and Spain can all qualify for the quarterfinal.
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2238: Portugal deserves its victory over the Netherlands. While the Dutch at times looked dangerous going forward, Portugal repeatedly cut them open on the break and on another day could have had five when you consider Ronaldo hit the post twice and Nani missed the easiest of chances. Germany struggled more than you’d expect to break down a resilient Danish side, but yet again got the result when it mattered.
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2237: So there we have it: Germany wins Group B and plays Greece in the quarterfinal in Gdansk; Portugal will play the Czech Republic in Warsaw.
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2235: FULL-TIME: Portugal 2, Netherlands 1.
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2234: FULL-TIME: Germany 2, Denmark 1
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2226: Rafael van der Vaart goes close to giving the Netherlands a glimmer of hope, curling a beautiful shot onto the far post, with an outstretched Rui Patricio in the Portugal goal well and truly beaten. That would have been a sensational goal.
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2224: Germany takes the lead and the goal comes through Lars Bender. A ball in behind the defense looks destined for Klose but it has too much on it for the German striker. Bender, though, is overlapping with a lung-busting run and slots the ball calmly past Andersen and into the far corner. Surely that sees Germany through as group winners?
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2221: GOAL! GERMANY 2, Denmark 1 (Bender)
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2220: Changes in the Germany-Denmark match: Niki Zimling is going off and Christian Poulsen takes his place for Denmark. Mario Gomez is off for Germany, Miroslav Klose replaces him.
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2218: Nani makes up for a miss moments earlier. He picks up the ball on a counter attack down the right and plays it across the Netherlands’ defense and into the path of Ronaldo who, unlike Nani, makes no mistake from close range. Unless we see something truly spectacular, the Dutch are surely out of Euro 2012 now.
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2215: GOAL! PORTUGAL 2, Netherlands 1 (Ronaldo)
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2214: Custodio replaces Raul Meireles for Portugal.
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2213: sdouglas80: Calculators at the ready for Group B finale. This could get confusing… (via Twitter)
2211: simonhaydon: Think some of the Portugal players at Euros should be entered into the Olympic diving competition. (via Twitter)
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2211: Ibrahim Afellay replaces Jetro Willems in an attacking Dutch substitution. They need to win 3-1 and hope Denmark lose to go through. At the moment, neither is happening.
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2210: Fabio Coentrao nealry finishes a great move from Portugal. Ronaldo picks the ball up from just outside his own penalty area and runs well into the Dutch half before picking out the run of Coentrao. He moves in on his left foot and shoots, bringing a good save from Stekelenburg.
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2207: Nelson Oliveira is going to come on for Portugal, in place of Helder Postiga. His last contribution of the match was that offside goal, but will it be Postiga’s last contribution of the tournament, too?
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2200: OFFSIDE! Portugal close to taking the lead, but Postiga’s effort is ruled offside after putting the ball in the net from a Ronaldo cross.
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2157: For the Dutch, Ron Vlaar goes close as he meets a cross but gets his header all wrong. The ball actually looks like it may have hit his shoulder on the replay, but whatever part of Vlaar it hit, it should have then found the back of the net. Instead, the ball flies high and wide from a little more than six yards out. Good chance missed for the Dutch and they are not in a position to waste anymore tonight.
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2154: So close for Denmark! Jakob Poulsen links up superbly with Bendtner and as the ball is returned to him outside the penalty area he sidefoots his shots inches wide of the post. Letoff for Germany.
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2151: Joao Moutinho looks to get Portugal in front, shooting on the bounce as Germany heads a cross away. Moutinho gets well underneath the ball though and it is very, very high over the bar.
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2146: The second half is underway in both games.
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2136: The Germans have looked threatening in attack but Denmark is still in this and has been sharp on the counter attack.
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2133: The Dutch got off to a superb start in their quest for a two goal victory when Van Der Vaart curled a brilliant shot into the far corner of the net. They’ve looked very, very vulnerable in defense though and Ronaldo exploited it to pull his team level with a cool finish. The Dutch must win at least 3-1 and hope Denmark lose to qualify now.
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2131: HALF TIME: DENMARK 1-1 GERMANY
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2130: HALF TIME: PORTUGAL 1-1 NETHERLANDS
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2129: Germany goes close as Khedira pokes a shot wide. The Germans have stepped up their control of the game in the last few minutes.
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2124: Podolski goes close to getting the lead back for Germany against Denmark. He rockets a shot over the bar from a free kick and howls in despair as he sees his shot fly into the crowd. In the other game, the Dutch are now getting a little more of the ball after a very anxious period.
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2121: Ronaldo is looking back to his best here and that is an ominous sign for the Netherlands. He gets in front of his defedner and sends a header just wide from Nani’s corner. He’s looked very dangerous since finding the net a few minutes ago. After a shaky start, the Portuguese look in control. As things stand, Portugal and Germany are through although there’s a lot of football still to play here.
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2115: And now Portugal claws a goal back against the Dutch! Willems gives the ball away from left back with a poor clearance. Perriera of Portugal picks out the run of Ronaldo with a precise through ball. Ronaldo takes a touch, holds off his defender and finds the small gap between Stekelenburg and the post. 1-1 now in both matches.
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2115: simonhaydon: It’s a goal bonanza at the Euros, 1-1 in each match and misfiring strikers finding their touch. Lots more goals to come methinks. (via Twitter).
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2113: GOAL! PORTUGAL 1, Netherlands 1 (Ronaldo).
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2112: Krohn Dehli nets his second of the tournament and pulls Denmark level. Bendtner meets a deep corner with a header back across goal and into the goalmouth and Krohn-Dehli, who is far from the tallest player on the pitch, is on hand to nod in from close range.
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2111: GOAL! Germany 1, DENMARK 1 (Michael Krohn-Dehli)
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2109: Ronaldo goes close again for Portugal, bringing a good save from the Dutch keeper after nodding the ball at goal from a Nani cross. Portugal looks threatening going forward but are not taking the good chances they are creating.
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2107: Podolski scores on the evening where he wins his 100th cap for Germany. Mueller blasts a low ball across the six yard area, aimed at Gomez. He can’t get his strike away though and the ball hits him and spins back to Podolski, who unleashes a vicious strike at goal. The ball goes through the hands of Andersen as he sprawl back across goal. He will feel he could have done better there, but that shot had a lot of pace on it.
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2103: GOAL! GERMANY 1, Denmark 0 (Podolski).
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2059: A great goal, neatly taken by Rafael van der Vaart, who is captain tonight. He receives the ball from Arjen Robben just outside the penalty area and curls a left-footed shot into the far corner of net. Nobody for Portugal was quick enough to close Van der Vaart down and he punished them.
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2056: GOAL! Portugal 0-0 NETHERLANDS 1 (Van Der Vaart)
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2055: Mueller’s just missed an incredible chance. Once again, the ball comes over from the left and he finds space near the back post. The ball comes to Mueller from little more than six yards out but he fails to connect with the ball and it’s saved by Stephan Andersen.
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2048: Both matches are underway. Germany have a couple of immediate chances through Oezil and Mueller. Mueller had more time than he realized and should have hit the target.
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2030: The Dutch need to win by at least two goals tonight against Portugal. With that in mind, striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar gets his first start of the tournament alongside Robin van Persie. Defensive midfielder Mark van Bommel is left on the bench. Portugal leaves its starting lineup unchanged for the third straight game.
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2025: Tonight’s lineups:
GERMANY: Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Phillipp Lahm, Lars Bender, Holger Badstuber, Sami Khedira, Mesut Oezil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller, Mario Gomez.
DENMARK: Stephan Andersen, Simon Kjaer, Daniel Agger, Simon Poulsen, Lars Jacobsen, William Kvist, Christian Eriksen, Jakob Poulsen, Niki Zimling, Michael Krohn-Dehli, Nicklas Bendtner.
PORTUGAL: Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Fabio Coentrao, Joao Pereira, Pepe, Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles, Nani, Miguel Veloso, Helder Postiga, Cristiano Ronaldo.
NETHERLANDS: Maarten Stekelenburg, Joris Mathijsen, Gregory Van der Wiel, Ron Vlaar, Jetro Willems, Nigel De Jong, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie.
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