LVIV, Ukraine: Portugal coach Paulo Bento admitted his task now is to pick his team up for their do-or-die match against Denmark on Wednesday in the wake of their opening Euro 2012 defeat to Germany.
A second-half header from Germany striker Mario Gomez sealed the Germans’ 1-0 win to take the three points over Portugal after Denmark had earlier shocked Holland 1-0 to leave the Danes and Germans joint leaders in Group B.
Bento must now bring his Portugal team back to the Lviv Arena on Wednesday to take on Morten Olsen’s Denmark and a further defeat would leave the Portuguese on the verge of a first-round exit.
Portugal had their chances to against Germany as Real Madrid star Pepe hit the crossbar at the end of the first-half and watched in horror as the ball bounced on the goal-line and away from danger.
“I am not happy with the result, I believe we controlled the game and defended well,” said Bento.
“We had some bad luck with the shot which hit the crossbar and the Germans had a bit of luck with their goal from Gomez.
“Now we have to do all we can to get the team ready to face Denmark and pick ourselves up.” Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was kept subdued by the German defense and only slipped his marker, Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng, on rare occasions.
This was Portugal’s third straight defeat at the hands of Germany having lost in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, as well as the third-place play-off at the 2006 World Cup.
With Holland and Portugal now licking their wounds after defeats in the pool, which has been dubbed “The Group of Death,” Bento insists his team can still qualify for the the knock-out stages from Group B.
“It has always been our goal to advance and we will do all we can to succeed against Denmark,” he said.
“Germany have won three times in the last four against us, so I don’t have any shock sensation, we will do all we can to get to the quarter-finals.
“We never thought Denmark would be the weakest team in this group, if we want to advance we have to win the second game, there is no other way.
“We have to keep the team spirit and build on that.
“We weren’t surprised Denmark beat the Netherlands, they fought hard and deserved the win.” Having seen his shot crash against the German’s cross-bar, Real star Pepe said Portugal just need a stroke of luck against Denmark to add to the hard work they produced against the Germans.
“We had a lot more chances than Germany, even in the difficult moments of the game, we didn’t let up, we played well, but we didn’t get the ball over the line,” said Pepe.
“We have a lot of hope for the next game, I think Germany is a very good team and we played well against them.
“There is a lot of pedigree in the four teams, we have the quality to be confidence to get out of this group.
“We put in a lot of effort and I hope next time luck is on our side.”
