“The Group Of Death” is already threatening to take out one
big tournament fancy in Holland, but Denmark may well find themselves being
dragged into the mire by their rivals Portugal in today’s crucial encounter.
A win for the Danes would see them through to the quarter finals
but they were exceptionally lucky to succeed with a smash and grab raid against
Holland on Saturday, where the Dutch controlled the game but failed to make the
best of any of the astonishing 29 shots that they had on target (with only 6
actually hitting the target), with numerous chances – ten of them created by Wesley
Sneidjer himself, a record for this championship, while also leading the
passing table from four other Dutch players with 77- that were sitters for this
level wasted throughought the game.
They could have scored four in the first ten minutes of the
second half – Robben’s wild shot over after cutting in from the left, Van
Persie miskicking dreadfully when in a good position/being unlucky with a low
drive, and Van Bommel’s 25 yard screamer – while Klaas Jan Huntelaar too missed
a one on one, although at least he had the dignity of excellent goalkeeping
from Steffan Anderson to save his blushes. Add two stonewall penalty appeals
which were turned down and you get the picture of an unlucky team.
Credit must be given towards Denmark for staying strong –
Daniel Agger in particular had a memorable game, while goalscorer Michael Krohn-Dehli
was the focal point of all their attacks when getting forward, and one can’t
rule out Nicklas Bendter and Cristian Eriksen from having a big impact - and
taking their one chance, but they’ll need to be a lot better against a Portugal
side that some would accuse of having left it too late to take the game to
Germany, although the stats (possession apart) paint a picture of a more even
game. The Iberians had 11 corners to just two for the Germans, while they had
12 shots to the Germans 11, with the same amount (3) hitting the target. Pepe’s
half time curler was terribly unlucky not to go in off either post or Mats
Hummels, Jerome Boateng repaid the faith shown in him by making a goalsaving
challenge on Ronaldo (pictured), and Neuer’s save to deny substitute Silvestre Varela
might be one of the best of the tournament so far.
With Sami Kehdira’s assist for the Gomez goal being deflected,
it seems safe to assume that luck wasn’t with Paulo Bento’s side, but they
should get a better chance of creating something against this Denmark side –
with the mentality sure to be to attack from the get go – and while Denmark are
sure to present stiff opposition (coming in bolstered by a record with sees the
Danes having won three out of five matches with Portugal and only losing once
since 2000) all the appeal lies with Paulo Bento’s side.
Those looking for extra value should consider a 1 goal win
for Portugal at 3-1 with Ladbrokes, while the likelihood of a high scoring game
seems to be high based on stats; Portugal have scored in all of their 12
previous meetings with Denmark, themselves scorers in every match in
qualifying, in matches that have averaged 3.5 goals per game. Portugal to win
without a clean sheet is 7/2 with Ladbrokes, while the same result with more
than 2.5 goals is 9/4. A fancy bet on Portugal to win 3-1 is 18’s and has to
attract some interest, while Portugal to win -0, 2-0 or 2-1 is 7/4 and looks
sure to have its takers.
Advice
4 pts Portugal (21/20 Stan James)
1 pt 3-1 Portugal (18/1 general)
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