Portugal, Germany advance at Euro 2012
[object Object] Credit: AP, left, from the Netherlands tries to stop Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group B match between Portugal and the Netherlands. (June 17, 2012)
Cristiano Ronaldo finally found the form he was lacking at the European Championship, scoring twice Sunday to give Portugal a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and a spot in the quarterfinals against the Czech Republic. Germany advanced to a quarterfinal against Greece after beating Denmark 2-1. The Dutch and the Danes were eliminated.
Ronaldo failed to sparkle in Portugal's two previous matches but he was devastating against the Dutch. He produced an equalizer with his first goal of the tournament in the 28th minute and scored the winner in the 74th.
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Cristiano Ronaldo finally found the form he was lacking at the European Championship, scoring twice Sunday to give Portugal a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and a spot in the quarterfinals against the Czech Republic. Germany advanced to a quarterfinal against Greece after beating Denmark 2-1. The Dutch and the Danes were eliminated.
Ronaldo failed to sparkle in Portugal's two previous matches but he was devastating against the Dutch. He produced an equalizer with his first goal of the tournament in the 28th minute and scored the winner in the 74th.
Needing a win to have a chance at staying in the tournament, the disappointing Dutch fielded an attacking lineup. Rafael van der Vaart gave the Dutch the lead in the 11th minute, but Portugal then took control of the match at Kharkiv, Ukraine.
At Lviv, Ukraine, Lukas Podolski scored for Germany in the 19th minute and Lars Bender scored the winner in the 80th after Michael Krohn-Dehli had scored for Denmark. -- AP