UEFA European Championship - Update 7

Denmark vs. Germany
1-2

Nicklas Bendtner and Lukas Podolski both started this game for their respective teams, with Mertesacker once again restricted to the bench. Both players proved vital for their team, but I would like to start with Bendtner. Because, even though this result means that Denmark's time in the tournament is over, he's been absolutely brilliant for the Danes. He has led the line for all three games superbly and won pretty much all aerial challenges (not to mention scoring twice against Portugal). I, for one, would fancy seeing him up front just in front of van Persie this autumn.
Back to this game, Germany dominated throughout the entire game and took the lead after nineteen minutes. And guess who scored on his 100th game for the national team...? Who else but Lukas Podolski himself! He fired a sizzling shot past Andersen which meant that Germany definitely was through for the quarter-finals (remarkably, winning the two former games might not have been enough for the Germans).
Denmark came up with a quick response though, and it was created (as so often for the Danes) through the head of Nicklas Bendtner. This time he turned provider and headed a corner straight to the goalscorer from the game against the Netherlands, Krohn-Dehli.
The game got slower after that, and Bendtner should have gotten a penalty near the end when Badstuber tugged harshly at the Danish striker's shirt. Yet, the Germans had the last say in the game when Lars Bender scored late on to seal the qualification for Germany.

This result means that we will see no more of Nicklas Bendtner in this tournament as his Denmark has been knocked out, ending at a third place.

Portugal vs. Netherlands
2-1

Robin van Persie did not manage to provide the magic we've seen all season for Arsenal for the Netherlands in this tournament. Disappointingly, the Netherlands have ended up on zero points from three games and have only managed to score twice in these European games.
Hopefully, this means that Robin will stay with us for more seasons and return for pre-season training earlier (and through that, not miss the start of the season).
I did not see this game, as the only game showed on the telly was Denmark-Germany, so I did not get to see van Persie's last game in the tournament. But from what I've heard, he was put on the right-hand side of the midfield and did not get many chances to score in throughout the game.

Germany finished top of the group, with Portugal as runners-up. This means that Podolski and Mertesacker will face Greece in the quarter-finals, and Rosicky (if fit) will face Portugal in the quarters.