Group Of Death Preview: All Four Teams Capable of Victory

Jun 09, 2012 01:08 AM EDT

When Germany, Netherlands and Portugal were drawn in the same group, there was an immediate sense of excitement. Add Euro 1992 winners Denmark to that Group B list and you have a mouth-watering few games ahead of you.

In the opening matches of Group B, the Netherlands take on an experienced Denmark team while Germany run into Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal.

The Dutch have not looked back since going down in the final against Spain at the World Cup in 2010. They had a ridiculously smooth qualifying round and are deservedly one of the favorites to win Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

In Robin Van Persie, they have one of the hottest strikers on the planet and the Dutch will be desperately hoping the forward carries on his Arsenal form, where he notched up 30 goals in the Premier League. With Arjen Robben and Ibrahim Afellay providing the width and Wesley Sneijder orchestrating the midfield, the Netherlands have plenty of goals in them.

They also have a deep bench with the likes of Rafael Van der Vaart, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Luuk de Jong and Dirk Kuyt to come off the bench when needed.

Their defense, however can be a little suspect and Denmark will look to take advantage of that weakness.

Denmark will rely heavily on the creativity of Christian Eriksen and striker Nicklas Bendtner. The Danes need to make sure when they do get the ball, they make full use of it, if they are to stand a chance against the mighty Dutch.

The second game of the night is much more intriguing. Germany are again one of the favorites to go all the way while Portugal have had a torrid time off late.

Even with Ronaldo in their ranks, Portugal could only finish second in their qualifying group and had to qualify via the playoffs. They have had a few disappointing friendly results in the lead up to the tournament.

Germany will start as clear favorites and will look towards Arsenal-bound Lukas Podolski, Mesut Ozil, Mario Gomez and Bastian Schweinsteiger to give them the perfect start in the toughest group of the tournament.

Much will of course depend on how well Ronaldo performs for his national side. If the Ronaldo we see at Real Madrid shows up on Saturday, Germany might just have a real game on their hands.

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