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Germany reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 as winners of Group B and sent Denmark crashing out after beating them 2-1 at the Arena Lviv.

Right-back Lars Bender's first international goal won the game for Joachim Loew's side on the night with 10 minutes remaining after Michael Krohn-Dehli had cancelled out Lukas Podolski's early opener.

There were some appeals for a Denmark penalty with 15 minutes remaining when Nicklas Bendtner appeared to have his shirt tugged by Holger Badstuber but referee Carlos Velasco Carballo - usually so liberal with his cards - did not take any action.

On an evening in which possession of the much-coveted second place in the group changed hands four times but failed to deliver the nail-biting finish the many group permutations had promised, a combination of Danish defeat in Lviv and Portugal's 2-1 win over Netherlands in Kharkiv saw the Danes eliminated by finishing third in the group on three points.

As group winners with nine points, Germany will play Greece in Gdansk on Friday June 22, while Portugal will face Czech Republic in Warsaw a day earlier after they finished second on six points. The Dutch go home with no points.

The victory for Germany means they have won every single competitive fixture since they lost 1-0 to Spain in the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, having come through the qualifying phase for this competition with 10 wins out of 10. What's more, they have opened the scoring in each of those 13 subsequent games.

As expected, Germany's pace and attacking thrust saw them have the best of the opening exchanges, with Thomas Mueller firing one half-volleyed shot over the bar before sending a tame side-footed effort trickling to the keeper from six yards.

Podolski opened the scoring for Germany, putting Portugal in the top two despite Rafael van der Vaart's opening goal for Netherlands in Kharkiv.

Podolski, who turned 27 years of age a fortnight ago, became the youngest European to reach 100 international caps, and he marked the occasion with his 44th goal for Germany.

The forward, who will be lining up for Arsenal next season, gave the Premier League a taste of what to expect on 19 minutes when he pounced on to a low cross from the right and fired home from 10 yards. Denmark keeper Stephan Andersen got both hands to the strike, but the power was enough for it to hit the net.

That goal had Portugal poised to go through alongside Germany by virtue of their superior head-to-head record with the rest of the group, but it was far from the final twist in the tale.

Germany's lead lasted just five minutes before Krohn-Dehli levelled up for the Danes. The Brondby man, who scored the winner in the 1-0 win over Netherlands, was the most alert when Bendtner nodded a corner back across goal, and the five-foot-seven midfielder glanced his own header past Manuel Neuer.

Denmark were now set to progress as the outright second-placed side, but there was more drama before the half-hour mark as Cristiano Ronaldo's goal was sending Portugal through thanks to their 3-2 win over Denmark last time out.

Podolski blazed over a free-kick from the edge of the box and Sami Khedira prodded an effort wide, but the score remained level at half-time with Denmark on their way out.

Morten Olsen's side made a brief stab of a fightback after the break, with Jakob Poulsen's strike shaving the outside of the post after good hold-up play by Bendtner, but in truth that was as close as they got.

Andersen was forced into a regulation save from Bastian Schweinsteiger low to his left, but once news filtered through that Ronaldo had scored his and Portugal's second in Kharkiv there looked no way back for Denmark - despite the fact that scoring one more of their own would put them through and Germany out.

Some thought they would have that chance when Bendtner was at full stretch to meet a floated ball into the box and Badstuber appeared to have a handful of the Arsenal striker's shirt. However, Spanish official Velasco - whose two red cards in the opening match of the tournament took his tally for the season to 17 and who averaged 7.5 bookings in La Liga last term - deemed the incident unworthy of his involvement.

On 80 minutes it was all over and Germany were confirmed as progressing with a 100 per cent record. Mesut Ozil's pass was too far ahead of substitute Miroslav Klose, but it ran ideally for Bender to meet on the run and sidefoot a cool finish past Andersen to open his international account on his ninth senior appearance.

Silvestre Varela kept Portugal's Euro 2012 hopes alive with a late goal in a 3-2 win over Group B rivals Denmark in Lviv.

Sunderland forward Nicklas Bendtner scored twice (41,80) as Morten Olsen's side recovered from falling 2-0 behind to Pepe's headed opener on 24 minutes and a Helder Postiga finish from inside the Danish area on 36 minutes.

Despite Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo missing a couple of obvious chances, substitute Varela sealed the three points for Portugal - their first win of the year after a series of indifferent results in friendies - when he walloped a blistering shot into the corner of the net at the second attempt from Fabio Coentrao's delightful pass.

Portugal were worth their win on the night. They join Denmark and Germany on three points with Germany due to face the Netherlands later on Wednesday.

Denmark upset the Dutch 1-0 on Saturday to leave the group delicately poised before the final round of games.

Portugal are the only country to have taken part in at least one group phase at the European Championships without ever going home before the quarter-finals.

They were at risk of falling out of the tournament if they lost this match and Germany drew with the Dutch, but eased their nerves by moving ahead on 24 minutes when Real Madrid defender Pepe rose to power home a header from Joao Moutinho's corner.

They doubled their lead 12 minutes later as Postiga swept the ball high into the Danish goal beyond keeper Stephan Andersen from Nani's delicious pass.

With coach Morten Olsen frantically scribbling down notes, Denmark looked to be heading for a drubbing until they reduced the deficit almost out of nothing four minutes before half-time.

Substitute Jacob Poulsen picked out Michael Krohn-Dehli - scorer of the winner against the Netherlands - deep in the opposition area and he headed back across goal for Bendtner to nod into the unguarded net.

It was his 19th goal in his 50th match for Denmark and a fifth goal in five games against Portugal for the former Arsenal man.

Ronaldo should have put his country 3-1 clear on 51 minutes when he raced in on goal only to fluff his lines as his shot lacked the necessary pace to beat Andersen.

He then looked to have paid the ultimate price when he bounded onto Nani's ball only to slip the shot wide of goal on 78 minutes - Denmark went level three minutes later.

Lars Jacobsen threw over an inviting cross for Bendtner to net his sixth goal in five games against Portugal as his header hit the back of the net via Rui Patricio's glove and post.

It looked like Portugal would need results elsewhere to stay alive in the tournament, but their destiny is back in their own hands courtesy of Varela's winning goal.

Portugal know a win over the Netherlands on Sunday will be enough to secure their place in the last eight. Ronaldo will hope for better times.

Alongside Russia's Aleksandr Kerzhakov (11 shots) and Robin van Persie (eight shots), Ronaldo (10 shots) is in the top three forwards with most efforts at goal. All three have yet to score at the finals.

Denmark blew Euro 2012's Group of Death wide open courtesy of Michael Krohn-Dehli's opportunistic goal in an astonishing 1-0 win over the Netherlands at Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv.

The Dutch fell to defeat despite having over 60 percent of possession and 32 shots at goal.

It was Sparta Rotterdam midfielder Krohn-Delhi who handed Morten Olsen's side the three points from the Group B match when he drove the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg on 24 minutes.

Denmark next face Portugal while the Netherlands must avoid defeat against bitter foes Germany later on Wednesday night to avoid tumbling out of the tournament at the group stage two years after they lost to Spain in the World Cup final.

The Dutch went on to win Euro 88 after losing their opening match to the old Soviet Union, but they will need to call on all their powers of recovery with too many of their leading performers suffering form lapses in the key moments of this contest.

Despite being clearly superior on the ball to Denmark, men such as Arjen Robben, Ibrahim Afellay and Robin van Persie could not unearth the goals their country needed to avoid defeat on a hot and humid night in Ukraine.

With Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger in supreme form at the heart of the Danish defence, the Dutch eventually ran out of ideas which will be the most worrying aspect of the defeat for coach Bert van Marwijk overseeing a country that has been littered with episodes of self-implosion over the years at such tournaments.

The Netherlands have made it out of the group stages in their last six appearances at the European Championship. They are the only side to have done this, but may need to beat Germany to salvage that record.

Having scored 37 goals in qualifying - more goals than any other country - the Netherlands were expected to wallow in goals against a country who had not beaten them in open play since 1967.

But the night became a struggle before a stadium that was disappointingly not full as Van Persie slipped a shot wide of goal on seven minutes before Lars Jacobsen dashed back to make a vital intervention as Robben tried to play in Wesley Sneijder rather than opt to shoot.

Krohn-Delhi had no such issues as he bounded beyond Johnny Heitinga before finishing with some expertise.

The chances came and went for the Dutch from that point onwards with Robben hitting a post after an error by Danish goalkeeper Stephan Andersen, who later dived to nudge a shot by Mark van Bommel past a post.

He also saved from substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as the Dutch finished with Huntelaar and Van Persie on the pitch.

It became increasingly silly to watch with the Netherlands dominant but toothless. Having said that, Denmark were also rescued by two moments of good fortune as Simon Poulsen and Lars Jacobsen avoided penalties in either half despite clearly handling the ball on both occasions.

Sneijder created 10 goalscoring chances for the Netherlands. No player has produced more in a European finals match in the past 32 years, but it meant little as he slumped to his knees at full-time.

Denmark had probably worked hard for their slices of good fortune.