Euro 2012 Update

(WFI) After a shock defeat to Denmark, Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk says his team are capable of getting their Euro 2012 campaign back on track with a win over arch rivals Germany on Wednesday.

The Oranje dominated the first half against Denmark in Kharkiv last night, with Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben guilty of squandering good chances. Michael Krohn-Dehli's first-half strike gave the Danes their first win over the Netherlands in 45 years.

Van Marwijk told a post-match press conference that he was not looking for excuses, praising Denmark's achievement and bemoaning his side's failure to convert their numerous chances.

"We are capable of many things and now we just have to win against Germany," he told reporters.

"It is what we need to do and everybody knows it."

Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart said: "We have to win twice to progress – we have to, that's a clear mission. We really have to go for it now."

Van Marwijk refused to criticise Van Persie's finishing; the Arsenal striker who notched 30 Premier League goals last season was out of sorts. The stats told the story: of 28 Dutch shots on goal, only eight were on target.

"It was not only Robin van Persie. There were maybe four, five, six players who had a lot of chances. and the referee could have given us a penalty," he said referring to what looked like a Danish handball in a goal-mouth scramble involving Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who came on late and showed flashes of the form that earnt him 29 goals for FC Schalke 04 last season

Holland's Jetro Willems, at 18 years and 71 days, became the youngest player ever to participate in a UEFA European Championship.

Germany Get Ready for Dutch

Like Holland, Germany seemed overawed by the Euro 2012 occasion against a disciplined and spirited Portugal. They appeared to be taking a leaf out of Holland's book - a brilliant group of attacking players were on show but they underperformed in the pressure cooker atmosphere of the Lviv stadium.

Joachim Loew admitted as much, acknowledging his team's lack of invention and cutting edge up front.

"Sure we could have used some of our attacks better, but we’ll improve on that and the important thing was winning the game and picking up the three points," he told reporters after the match.

He conceded that Germany had feared making big mistakes that Portugal stars Nani and especially Ronaldo might have capitalisedon; as it was he showed only fleeting glimpses of the flair and flamboyance that brought him 46 goals for Real Madrid last term.

"That is something we made the team aware of several times of course over the last few days, how much quality the Portuguese have and how dangerous they are. It was obvious to not always look for very risky passes but also to try and create a goal-scoring possibility, to minimise the risk a little, to be solid and certainly not to switch off," Loew said.

"But I think this victory will give us some more belief going forward."

It was Mario Gomez, scorer of 26 goals in last season's Bundesliga, who netted the decisive goal, a brilliant header on 72 minutes.

Germany have now extended their run of competitive wins to 12; Loew's side haven't lost a competitive game since their 1-0 loss to Spain in the 2010 World Cup semi-final.

Asked what the Dutch defeat means for their clash in Kharkiv on Wednesday, Loew said: "The Netherlands are now with their backs to the wall of course and they have to play all or nothing.

"The Netherlands need to go all out for a win which will probably make the match even more highly charged now."

European Champions Kick-off Campaign

Spain, one of the Euro 2012 favourites, take on Italy in Gdansk this evening in the first Group C match before Republic of Ireland play Croatia in Poznan.

Spain have not won a competitive game against Italy since their very first meeting at the 1920 Olympic Games, though they did edge them out on penalties four years ago. That game is officially classified as a draw. In FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship finals matches, Spain's record against Italy is W0 D3 L3 – two of those draws and a loss coming in the continental competition.

The 2010 World Cup winners come into the finals on a run of 14 straight competitive victories since they lost 1-0 to Switzerland in their opening game of the South Africa finals.

Spain's last defeat at a Euro was a 1-0 loss to hosts Portugal in the quarter-finals of the 2004 edition.

The Republic of Ireland are 14 matches unbeaten, a run stretching back to a 3-2 loss to Uruguay in March 2011.

But they have not played at a finals tournament since the 2002 World Cup. Eliminated on penalties by Spain in the last 16 of those championships, Ireland are unbeaten in finals games since losing 2-0 to the Netherlands in their final match of the 1994 World Cup.

Croatia have won just one of their last four games. Coach Slaven Bilić announced last month that he will step down from the position after Euro 2012 to become manager of FC Lokomotiv Moscow.

By INSIDER editor mailto:mark@worldfootballinsider.com">Mark Bisson in Warsaw

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