Germany beats Dutch, Portugal strike late

Reuters: Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 on Wednesday to move within touching distance of the Euro 2012 quarter-finals and Portugal kept their chances alive with a last-gasp 3-2 victory over Denmark.

Mario Gomez scored twice for Germany, taking his tally to three goals in two games and leaving the Dutch needing victory over Portugal in their last Group B match to have any chance of progressing.

They are also dependent on Germany beating Denmark. The Danes came back from 2-0 down against Portugal thanks to two close-range headers by Nicklas Bendtner, before substitute Silvestre Varela smashed in the 87th-minute winner.

Germany have six points from two games, Denmark and Portugal have three and the Netherlands none.

Off the pitch, tension was growing between Russia and co-hosts Poland over fighting in which police fired rubber bullets and tear gas and detained 184 people before the countries’ Group A match in Warsaw on Tuesday. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had told Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk by telephone that Warsaw bore “full responsibility” for fans’ safety and Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused Polish fans of provoking the violence. Ukraine, co-hosting the month-long tournament with Poland, also faced controversy when Germany’s foreign minister urged fans not to forget the plight of the former Soviet republic’s jailed former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.