In the European Championship 2012, Group B games -- considered the toughest of the tournament -- kicked off Saturday with German versus Portugal.
Mario Gomez thumped in a superb 72nd-minute header to give Germany a 1-0 victory, after long periods of a cagey play. Germany pushed through with heavy attacking but were kept at long range by some well-drilled defending by Portugal who almost snatched the lead in the last minute of the first half when Pepe curled a precise shot against the bar. But saw the ball bounce onto the line and away to safety. The Germans continued to press and got their reward when Sami Khedira swung in a deep cross from the right and Gomes, rose to power home his header.
Earlier on Saturday Denmark took a surprise 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the other game of the group. And it was Michael Krohn-Dehli that provided the lethal finishing that the Dutch inexplicably lacked.