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All national team coaches agreedafter the Euro 2012 draw in December 2011 that only one group couldbe called the strongest, the so-called "Group of Death": Group Bwith Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark. A look at the FIFA ranking tells it all with all four teams stillranked in the top 10 in May 2012, Germany on the second, theNetherlands on the fourth, Portugal fifth and Denmark 10th.Furthermore, Germany have won the Euro titles three times (1972,1980, 1996), the Netherlands once(1988) and Denmark once (1992). "It's the toughest group, everyone agrees on that," Dutch coachBert van Marwijk told on the UEFA website. "It's a huge challenge.I don't have to motivate my players." Denmarks's main quality is the team spirit, while Germany, theNetherlands and Portugal add many individual class players who candecide matches on their own. Germany has among others the likes ofMesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze, Holland relies on Robinvan Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, while Portugal dependon Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo. However, all three teams,have shown defensive weaknesses in recent results as well. "They all have their strengths," said German coach Joachim Low."Portugal and the Netherlands are the most technical teams in theworld, and Denmark are strong as a team." "It's going to be tough," said Portugal coach Paulo Bento. "Therewill be hard work ahead of us as we try to reach our goal of goingthrough the knockout stages." Denmark coach Morten Olsen added: "Obviously, we will have to be atour best and we need to have all of our key players fit for the tendays. On top of that, we will need a good deal of luck in order tosucceed." The Netherlands and Denmark will play the group opener in theUkrainian city of Kharkiv on June 9, followed by Germany vsPortugal in Lviv. In the second round on June 13, Denmark facePortugal in Lviv, while the Netherlands and Germany clash inKharkiv. Group B will be finalized on June 17 with the matchesDenmark vs Germany in Lviv and Portugal against the Netherlands inKharkiv. The most eagerly awaited encounter will be the one between theNetherlands and Germany. Both teams have a rich history and meteach other 38 times before, with (West-)Germany winning 14 times,the Netherlands 10 times and the match ending in a draw 14 times.The most famous encounter was the one between West Germany andHolland in the 1974 World Cup final when the Germans won 2-1. Thebest memory of the Dutch dates back to the semifinals of Euro 1988when they beat Germany 2-1 and went on to win the European title. The most recent encounter between Germany and Netherlands ended inan emphatic 3-0 win for the Germans in a Hamburg friendly on Nov.15, 2011, with Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose and Mesut Ozil scoringthe goals. "Netherlands will be much better than the team in November," saidLow. "They missed a fantastic player like Van Persie for example.They were in World Cup final and in recent years they performedbetter than us. Holland will not be comparable to the Novembergame." Germany historically holds a positive balance against all threegroup opponents, but the Netherlands only shows positive numbersagainst Denmark. Based on historic results, Portugal should have no fear for theNetherlands, losing only once and winning six times in ten previousmeetings. Portugal ousted the Netherlands in the Euro 2004 semifinals andalso in the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup. Denmark finished abovePortugal in the Euro 2012 qualifying group, beating Portugal 2-1 inthe final match. The Danes also know how to beat the Netherlandsand Germany, overcoming both nations to be crowned Europeanchampions in 1992. With Germany and the Netherlands being the favorites to go through,Portugal and Denmark have reasons to remain positive, in order tosurvive the Group of Death. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Food Grinding Machine Manufacturer , Powder Mixing Machine, and more. For more , please visit Pulveriser Machine today!
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