Portugal wins a thriller; Dutch almost out after loss to Germany

The Dutch are almost down and out after a second loss, this time to Germany. Portugal's chances are back on track after a thrilling win over Denmark.

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Once again, I suggest you read the story and then check out the video highlights: Portugal - Denmark: http://bit.ly/MPfkcL Germany - Netherlands: http://bit.ly/LVpdmc

Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner scores one of his two goals against Portugal in Lviv, Ukraine. AFP

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Portugal wins in Euro 2012 thriller; Dutch almost out after loss to Germany

Portugal's superstar Cristiano Ronaldo controls the ball against Denmark. AFP

Portugal beat Denmark 3-2 in a thrilling Euro 2012 clash in Lviv, Ukraine, with a last-gasp winner to resurrect their hopes of reaching the competition's knock-out stages on Wednesday.

Substitute Silvestre Varela blasted home three minutes from time to give the beaten Euro 2004 finalists the points after they had let a 2-0 lead slip to a battling Danish side.

Real Madrid defender Pepe opened the scoring with a header from a corner at Stephan Andersen's right-hand near-post, while Helder Postiga made it two with a deft flick on the opposite side.

Nicklas Bendtner got Denmark back on even terms and the Scandinavians looked set for a hard-fought point after a series of glaring misses by Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Meanwhile, Germany are on the verge of the Euro 2012 quarter-finals following their 2-1 win over Holland in the late match on Wednesday as Mario Gomez scored twice, while the Dutch are heading for a first-round exit.

World Cup finalists Holland will bow out on Sunday unless they beat Portugal in their final game and hope Germany defeat Denmark the same day to give them a chance of reaching the last eight.

After Portugal earlier beat Denmark 3-2 in Group B, Germany now need only a point against the Danes to be sure of reaching the last eight at Euro 2012 as group winners.

Dutch striker Robin van Persie reacts after a German goal. AFP

Having scored the winning header in Germany's opening 1-0 victory over Portugal, Germany's Gomez is now the tournament's early joint top-scorer with Russia's Alan Dzagoev with three goals after Bastian Schweinsteiger set up both his first-half strikes.

Holland gave themselves a late lifeline when Arsenal striker Robin van Persie pulled a goal back 15 minutes from time, but it was not enough to prevent their second Euro 2012 defeat after Saturday's shock 1-0 defeat to Denmark.

Scorching temperatures in eastern Ukraine meant the game kicked off with the thermometer showing 29 degrees Celsius.

The Germans took the lead thanks to a clever through-ball from Schweinsteiger which beat the Dutch off-side trap and fell to the feet of Gomez, who powered onto the pass and rifled home on 24 minutes.

The pair combined again on 38 minutes when Schweinsteiger's pass freed Gomez on the right and he fired past Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg on 38 minutes to make it 2-0 to the Germans at the break. AFP

thriller – a very exciting sports event, book, play or film/movie เรื่องเขย่าขวัญ, เรื่องตื่นเต้น
clash – a fight between groups of people การปะทะกันสองฝ่าย
last gasp – done at the last possible moment
resurrect – to bring back into use something that had disappeared, died or been forgotten ทำให้คืนชีพ, ทำให้ฟื้นขึ้นจากความตาย
knock-out stage – the part of a tournament where the loser leaves the competition
substitute – a player who replaces another member of his or her team during a match ตัวสำรอง
blast – to kick, throw or hit with great force
blast home – to put a forceful shot into the goal
lead – the position ahead of everyone else in a race or competition  ตำแหน่งนำ
slip – to fall to a lower level; to become worse ตกต่ำ,เสื่อม,เสื่อมโทรม
battling – fighting ต่อสู้
deft – done quickly and with skill อย่างคล่องแคล่ว, อย่างชำนาญ
flick – to make something move quickly and suddenly, especially with a quick movement of the foot or hand สะบัด, ปัด
on even terms – equal, i.e., to have the same score เสมอ
set – likely; ready พร้อม
glaring – very obvious; very clear สว่าง เจิดจ้า
meanwhile – at the same time ในเวลาเดียวกัน
on the verge of – to be about to do something very soon; to almost be ready to do something very near to the moment when somebody does something or something happens เกือบจะทำบางสิ่ง
quarter-finals – competitions between the last eight competitors remaining in a tournament การแข่งขันก่อนรอบบรองชนะเลิศ
exit – leaving (a competition) การออก
bow out – to exit
defeat – to win a victory over someone in a fight, war or competition ชนะ, ปราบ
tournament – a competition for teams or single players in which a series of games is played, and the winners of each game play against each other until only one winner is left การแข่งขัน
joint – done together; belonging to or shared between two or more people ที่ร่วมกัน, ความร่วมมือกัน
give (someone) a lifeline – to give someone a new chance of succeeding
scorching – extremely hot ร้อนมาก, ซึ่งทำให้แสบร้อน
thermometer – an instrument used for measuring the temperature of the air, a person's body, etc เครื่องวัดอุณหภูมิ
clever – quick at learning and understanding things เฉลียวฉลาด
off-side trap –  (in football) when defenders move forward trying to catch an opponent offside
rifle – to hit or kick a ball hard so that it moves very fast in a straight line
pair – two people who are doing something together คู่
combined – to do something together with someone else รวมกัน