Facing a must-win situation, the Portugese National Soccer Team pulled out a dramatic 3-2 victory over Denmark at the 2012 UEFA Euro Championship.
After a crushing 1-0 loss to Germany on Saturday and Denmark's surprising upset over the Netherlands in the "Group of Death," Portugal needed to win. A loss would have given Denmark six points and left Portugal praying for Dutch victory against Germany. Everything turned out well for Portugal who not only won, but did not have to pray for a Netherlands victory that never came.
But the win was far from simple. It looked easy 40 minutes into the contest when the Portuguese held what seemed like a firm 2-0 lead on goals from Pepe in the 24th minute and Helder Postiga in the 36th. But the Danish would not give up and managed a goal in the 41st minute by Niklas Bendtner off an incredible sequence. Danish forward Michael Krohn-Dehli headed the ball across to Bendtner who then headed the ball into the Portugese net to pull within one.
With just ten minutes to go in regulation, Denmark knotted the score at two off a second Bendtner goal. The goal would have essentially sealed Portugal's fate and left them packing for home. But the miracle came from an unexpected source: Silvestre Varela, who had been subbed into the match just minutes earlier. Varela had only made eight appearances for the national team since 2010 and had only scored three goals for his club team Porto in the 2011-12 season. But with just three minutes left in regulation, he pounded a shot just inside the box and into the back of the net to give Portugal the goal in needed to stay alive.
Portugal had numerous opportunities to add to its 2-1 lead early on the second. The team tried to lean on its captain Cristiano Ronaldo for some his goal scoring ability, but the world's most highly paid player was not ready to step up for his team when they needed him most. Moments after half-time, Ronaldo received a great pass from Postiga behind the Danish defense but Ronaldo shot the ball right at Denmark's goalkeeper Stephan Anderson. Then just 13 minutes from the end of the game, Ronaldo broke in alone one more time and shot the ball wide. Had Ronaldo been playing for FC Real Madrid of the Spanish league, both of those chances likely go in the back of the net. Since 2009, Ronaldo has scored 112 goals for Real in just 101 appearances. For the national team, the superstar has only put the ball in the net 32 times in 92 games. In his "worst" season for Real, he scored 26 goals in 29 appearances. Failing to live up to expectations on the international stage is nothing new for the 27 year old. In the 2008 Euro, Ronaldo only finished with one goal in five games as Portugal was eliminated in the quarter finals of the tournament. He went scoreless in the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup and scored only one goal, an inconsequential one, in a 7-0 blowout over North Korea.
Portugal will get a chance to move out of the group stage on Sunday against lowly Netherlands (0 points) who will also be looking to not only beat Portugal, but do so handily to overcome a -2 goal differential. As the group stands, Germany has six points and has all but guaranteed a seat in the next round. Portugal has three points and is tied with Denmark who also has three points and an equal goal differential, equal number of goals scored and allowed. In order for Portugal to pass, it will need to beat Netherlands and hope for a German victory or a German tie with Denmark. However, a Danish win, will not only force Portugal to win, but to score more goals than either Denmark or Germany, who currently has a +2 goal differential. If Portugal loses by more than one goal, then it will be eliminated. If Portugal loses by just one goal, then it needs to hope for a German trouncing of the Danish by at least two goals. A tie with Netherlands would put Portugal into the following round with a German victory or a tie that sees Denmark score fewer goals than Portugal does against the Netherlands. Denmark's scenario for getting to the next round is very similar to Portugal's.
Germany only needs a tie to advance to the next round, while the Netherlands must win by two or more goals and pray for a German defeat of the Danish in order to see the quarter finals.