Mario Gomez is at the double as Germany see off Holland to clinch their second victory of the tournament. Nicklas Bendtner also notches twice but his endeavours are not quite enough as Portugal steal a late win over Denmark to keep their last eight hopes alive:
Portugal 3 Denmark 2
Morten Olsen kept faith in the same starting XI that saw off Holland in Matchday 1. The Danish boss has a couple of injury worries following last night’s clash, though, after Dennis Rommedahl and Niki Zimling both limped out of the proceedings. The former, in particular, looks a real doubt after sustaining what looks like a hamstring injury.
Nicklas Bendtner’s brace helped his 1.3% of Fantasy owners to a 10 point return while Michael Krohn-Deli continued to make a mockery of his 6.0 price tag in the McDonald’s game – he picked up attacking points for the second game in a row after providing the assist for the Arsenal man’s opener. Olsen’s men still have a chance of progressing to the knockouts, though, and have all to play for in their final Group B game next Sunday – the only trouble is they now square up to Germany.
Portugal were also unchanged from the side that lost narrowly to Germany. Helder Postiga continued as the lone striker in a 4-3-3 and justified his inclusion by grabbing his side’s second, while Nani provided five goalscoring opportunities and picked up an assist but, for once, Cristiano Ronaldo’s finishing let him down. The Real Madrid man had six attempts against Denmark but fluffed his lines every time; a yellow card late in the match meant he picked up a single point in the McDonald’s game and frustrated the many Fantasy managers who had handed him the armband.
At the back, Pepe and Fabio Coentrao (both priced at 6.5 in the McDonald’s game) produced attacking points for their Fantasy owners, with a goal and assist respectively, while sub Silvestre Valera grabbed the all-important winner that leaves them with a chance of progressing. There are a number of permutations in the so-called Group of Death – Portugal could still qualify if they lose to Holland by a single goal and Denmark are also beaten, for example, but the bottom line is if they win against the Dutch and the Danes fail to beat Germany, the Portuguese will be through to the final eight. Given the Dutch’s defensive woes, Ronaldo looks likely to be handed the chance to atone for yesterday’s failings when Paulo Bento’s men next take to the pitch on Sunday.
Germany 2 Holland 1
Joachim Low continued with the same starting lineup that defeated Portugal 1-0 in their Group B opener. Mario Gomez joined Alan Dzagoev as the tournament’s joint-top scorer by grabbing both his side’s goals in the 2-1 win, while Bastian Schweinsteiger provided his 9.5% Fantasy owners with a nine point haul, thanks to a pair of assists and eight recovered balls. Despite Germany’s attacking threat, the likes of Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Lukas Podolski have all failed to pick up any attacking returns over their back-to-back victories and, with just a point needed against Denmark to finish as group winners, their owners will be hoping Low doesn’t hand some of his squad members a chance to shine against Morten Olsen’s side at the weekend. Ozil was the unluckiest of the above-mentioned trio last night; he provided three goalscoring opportunities and also hit the post but currently sits with just five points to his name in the McDonald’s game.
Although the threat of rest and rotation may ultimately prove unfounded when Low names his starting XI for the Denmark game, one thing is for certain – Jerome Boateng will not feature, after picking up his second booking of the tournament. This could perhaps allow Lars Bender a chance at right-back – Low had mentioned him as a contender for the position in the tournament build-up – though the more likely scenario would be to shift Philipp Lahm over to the right and allow 5.9 priced Marcel Schmelzer a chance on the left.
Back-to-back defeats means Bert Van Marwijk’s men have it all to do on Sunday. The Holland boss welcomed back Joris Mathijsen to the heart of defence for last night’s defeat but the Dutch looked ill-at-ease at the back and were picked apart by Schweinsteiger’s superb passes for the Gomez goals. A couple of second half changes may indicate what’s to come for the Portugal match, as Mark Van Bommel and Ibrahim Afellay made way for Rafael Van Der Vaart and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Priced at 6.5 in the McDonald’s game, Afellay has picked up over 8% ownership after his performances on the left in recent friendlies – of the two, his absence would be a far more significant for Fantasy managers if Van Marwijk chooses to shake things up; with the Holland boss critical of his wide men post-match, this may well prove to be the case.
With Wesley Sneijder moving from a central position to the left and Robin Van Persie partnered by Huntelaar, Holland looked far more threatening, though Germany seemed content to sit deep and hit on the counter. Sneijder created six goalscoring opportunities and picked up an assist for Van Persie’s consolation, with the latter managing a total of four attempts on the German goal.
Arjen Robben’s Fantasy owners will be a little apprehensive after the winger threw a strop when Van Marwijk chose to replace him with Dirk Kuyt towards the end – the show of insolence won’t go down well with the no-nonsense manager. Nothing less than a win is required in their final match against Portugal, then, and, while that still might not be enough to see them through, a more attack-minded outlook will surely be in Van Marwijk’s thoughts as he seeks to re-establish a sense of pride in his side’s play at the very least.
