Another disjointed performance by Netherlands saw the Oranje slump to their third straight loss of Euro 2012, this time at the hands of Portugal, whose impressive showing deservedly paved them a path to a quarter-final meeting against the Czech Republic on Thursday night. It was Cristiano Ronaldo who came up with the goods for the Portuguese after disappointing in the two previous fixtures, scoring twice after Rafael Van der Vaart had given Netherlands an early lead to help Portugal come second in Group B.

Needing a two-goal win at the very least to stand a chance of making the quarters, Bert van Marwijk started both Robin van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar in attack, with Rafael Van der Vaart coming into the side in place of Ibrahim Afellay. Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben were again expected to be key players in the Dutch midfield, with tough-tackling enforcer Nigel de Jong edging out the experienced Mark van Bommel to start in a defensive midfield role. Ron Vlaar replaced Johnny Heitinga at the back to partner Joris Mathijsen, with Jetro Willems and Gregory Van der Wiel completing the backline shielding Maarten Stekelenburg's goal.

An 80th minute winner from the unlikely source of right back Lars Bender ensured that Germany maintained their 100% record at Euro 2012 and booked their spot opposite Greece in the quarter-finals of the competition courtesy of a 2-1 win against Denmark in Lviv. Germany bossed the first half and were rewarded with a goal for Lukas Podolski in the 19th minute with the Premier League bound striker firing the ball past an excellent Stephan Andersen in goal from around 10 yards. The lead however, lasted just a few minutes as Denmark drew level from a setplay with Michael Krohn-Dehli scoring his second goal of the tournament with a good aerial finish. The quality of play dropped considerably in the second half as Germany tightened their game, and in a period that saw very limited chances, Bender popped up in the right place to stroke the ball home to give the German fans plenty of reason to celebrate. The Germany vs. Greece game will take place on Friday the 22nd of June in Gdansk.

The Germans made a solitary change to the team that took to the field in their first two matches. That too was forced, with the suspended Jerome Boateng making way for young Lars Bender to come in at right back. The formation and positioning of rest of the players remained the same, as Low was happy to retain a side that had done so well in the first two matches.

2004 Champions Greece shocked the mighty Russians by a solitary goal to unexpectedly go through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. The Russians were on top for most of the game, but couldn’t find their way past a solid Greek defence, who played beyond their individual ability to hang on for the unlikeliest of wins. Greece looked down and out before the match, having been bottom of the group table with group toppers Russia to play. However, they put their bodies on the line to keep the Russians out after having taken the lead through inspirational captain Karagounis to turn the Group A table on its head. The Greeks go through to the next round at the expense of the Russians on account of winning the fixture between the two teams. Greece displayed a performance reminiscent of the 2004 team, but would have to do without the suspended duo of Giorgos Karagounis and Jose Holebas in their quarter-final against Group B winners (probably Germany) on Friday, 22nd June.

A 72nd minute strike from Petr Jiracek and a 94th minute final touch goal-line clearance from Jan Rezek saw the Czech Republic prevail 1-0 against co-hosts Poland to advance to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. Despite being battered for large periods of the first half, the Czech Republic won the moments that mattered in this contest to send their opponents packing from the tournament and advancing as Group A winners courtesy of their two wins. The Czechs will be in action next on Thursday, 21st June when they take on the Runners-up from Group B, the proverbial Group of Death.

Tomas Rosicky was the big absentee for the Czechs as Daniel Kolar replaced the injured star. Vaclav Pilar and Petr Jiracek continued to fly down the flanks while Milan Baros was the lone man in attack. Tomas Hubschman and Jaroslav Plasil shielded the defence from their deep midfield positions, ahead of Michal Kadlec and Tomas Sivok in central defence and Theodor Gebre Selassie and David Limbersky on the wings.