Group B – Will Holland, Portugal or Germany survive the ‘group of the death’?
Dubbed the ‘Group of Death’, the current powerhouses of football will do battle – Portugal, Germany, Holland, and Denmark.
Having never won an international competition during their golden age with high profile players such as Luis Figo and Rui Costa, Portugal will now turn to star Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani to finally lead this nation to glory. They will most certainly rely on CR7 in this tournament with the hope that his goal scoring streak is not over. This season with club team Real Madrid, Ronaldo remarkably popped in 60 goals in all competitions. Portugal has some rising young talent worth mentioning such as Raul Meireles of Chelsea, sought-after defender by the world’s best club teams Fabio Coentrao, as well as Miguel Veloso who plays his club football in Italy.
The Portuguese do not lack experience especially in defence with the likes of Pepe and Bruno Alves commanding the lines with veteran ‘keeper Eduardo between the sticks. The men in red and green struggled to finish second in their qualifying group as the Portuguese relied on goal differential to achieve that position, and needed to defeat a tough Bosnia team in the playoff round to make it through. Four years back, Portugal looked very promising indeed and became one of the main favourites to claim victory at Euro 2008 winning their group with confidence and ease. They then ran into the German wall, and it was ‘asta la vista’ Portugal. However this time around, I’m sure Portugal will give a much more difficult time to their opponents. Look for the Portuguese to be the dark horse team of the tournament.
Germany is certainly the favourite to triumph in this year’s tourney. In international tournaments, the Germans have always been a tough team to play against due to their tenacity and well-disciplined style. They seem to have a strong mentality to win in addition to the skilled players in the roster with stars like playmaker Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and star striker Mario Gomez. The young and talented Thomas Muller led Germany in goals with five during the qualification round. The Germans will boast a solid defence with players of high calibre such as Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Per Mertesacker, and Phillip Lahm. It will be a very tough round but look for Germany to surpass their obstacles.
The team to beat in this ‘group of death’ is the Netherlands. The Dutch are the 2010 World Cup runners up and one of the favourites of the tourney. On paper, Holland has a favourable start to this tournament as the Dutch will take on, arguably the easiest of all four teams, Denmark. The Orange men will depend on their strength in midfield with players such as Mark Van Bommel, Rafael Vander Vaart, and Wesley Sneijder. Sneijder had a horrible season with Inter Milan, but is eager to have a strong tourney and prove that he is still one of the best in the world. The Oranje will most likely have no problems bagging goals this tournament with Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Dirk Kuyt, and the most wanted man at the moment, Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie, who scored 37 goals with Arsenal this year. That said, in almost any other group the Dutch would qualify comfortably. In the group of death, it may come down to tiebreakers.
All the bookies are counting Denmark out after the first round. With a group like this, they may very well be right. The Danes qualified for the semis since they won the tournament back in 1992. They are by far the weakest team in the group and I believe they will need a miracle to challenge the others for the top two spots. They will definitely depend on striker Nicolas Bendtner for leadership as well as Christian Poulsen in the midfield. Most likely outcome, three and out!
My predictions for Group B:
1) Germany
2) Portugal
3) Holland
4) Denmark
However, I do believe Portugal can upset in this group.
