If only there was some over-used, catchy but not entirely accurate phrase to describe the one group in a major football tournament in which four apparently strong teams with no obvious whipping boys were drawn together, then it could almost certainly be applied to Group B in Euro 2012.
After the first round of games in The Group Of Four Apparently Strong Teams With No Obvious Whipping Boys, Germany and Denmark are cock-a-hoop with one win each, while Portugal and Holland have been forced to lick their wounds, regroup and set about playing catch-up.
Despite Denamrk being ranked ninth in the world, few gave them a hope of advancing to the quarter-finals or beating the Dutch apart from one particularly shrewd and knowledgable football sage who courageously tipped them to do so on both Twitter and the Guardian Euro 2012 Football Daily podcast, prompting much public ridicule in the process.
But beat the Dutch is exactly what Denmark did in Kharkiv, albeit after riding their luck throughout 90 minutes of largely rearguard action in which their opponents demonstrated an breath-taking profligacy in front of goal that cost them dearly.
Later that evening in Lviv, Portugal could consider themselves somewhat unfortunate to have lost by an identical score to Germany, but the upshot is that they go into this evening's encounter is that both the Dutch and Portuguese are already fighting for their lives in this tournament and failure to get at least a draw against the Danes this afternoon would end their chances of advancing to the knockout stages.
Despite Portugal's inferior world ranking (10th to Denmark's ninth), toothlessness in front of goal and inability to finish above the Danes in qualifying for this tournament or World Cup 2010, Portugal are the odds-on favourites to win tonight's match. It seems inexplicable, not least when you consider the anonymity of Cristiano Ronaldo in their opening game, their inability to score goals and the pressure they're under to get a result tonight compared to their opponents. That's not to say Denmark will beat them, of course, just that the 7-2 (4-1 on the exchanges) against a Danish win is decidedly mouthwatering.
Team news: Both managers are dealing from full decks this evening, which means Denmark coach Morten Olsen is likely to name the same starting eleven that did so well against Holland in Kharkiv on Saturday, although he may consider drafting in left-sided midfielder Michael Silberbaur, who has previous in the field of keeping Cristiano Ronaldo in his pocket.
Meanwhile for Portugal, striker Hugo Almeida has recovered from a virus and winger Ricardo Quaresma has been passed fit after recovering from a muscle strain, which means manager Paulo Bento has a full squad to choose from. He may well replace Helder Postiga with Quaresma in attack, as the former was decidedly hapless in his country's opener against Germany.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo storming off in a huff after Portugal lost against Germany and despite reports that the preening primadonna since thrown his rattle out of the pram and skipped training yesterday, Portugal manager Bento has denied there are any problems with his star player.
"I can assure you that there were 23 players on the training pitch, and in all our time here, Ronaldo has not missed one session," he said. "Not everyone reacts the same way to disappointment and stressful situations. And, from a certain point of view, I can even understand Cristiano's reaction. But if anyone had a right to be dissatisfied on Saturday, it was the Portuguese people. I apologize for that."
Despite his well-documented irritation at his failure to learn how to play the grand piano last year, Nicklas Bendtner seems to be in fine fettle and there's no reason why he shouldn't be. The Danish centre forward will win his 50th international cap today. Four of his previous 49 were won against Portugal, a side he has never failed to score against.
"We're building a new team at the moment, but we have great players of our own - as we showed against Holland," he declared. "Portugal may have better players, but which is the greater side - we will have to wait and see."
