Germans finish top Group B
Germany's Lars Bender
Goals from Lukas Podolski in his 100th game for his country and right-back Lars Bender was enough to secure victory for the Germans, while Michael Krohn-Dehli grabbed the goal for the Danes.
The match started at an exciting pace and Germany should really have taken the lead as early as the sixth minute.
Lukas Podolski was in the thick of the action from the get go and it was his cross form the left that created that early chance as the ball found its way to an unmarked Thomas Muller, but the German midfielder fluffed his shot from close range straight into the arms of the goalie.
The Danes had no answer for the German attack and Mario Gomez came within inches of scoring the opening goal in the 12th minute when he saw his 22-yard shot sail narrowly wide.
Seven minutes later, though, and the Germans did find the back of the net as Lukas Podolski scored his 44th career goal for his country.
Some good work down the right flank saw Muller find his way into the box before cutting the ball back to the man making his 100th appearance for Germany and the attacking midfielder made no mistake with a clinical finish from 16-yards out, 1-0.
Denmark, however, were not going to lie down and showed their fight spirit with an equaliser in the 24th minute.
A beautifully worked free-kick on the right flank saw a deep delivery into the box where Nicklas Bendtner headed the ball back into the danger area and Krohn-Dehli was there to powerfully head home from six-yards out, 1-1.
Four minutes before the break and Sami Khedira should have restored his country’s lead, but he fired wide from eight-yards out after being gifted an opportunity by some poor defending.
The second half started a little slowly and chances were few and far between.
The only decent chance of the half, before the Germans scored their second goal, was a Danish attempt in the 51st minute.
Jakob Poulsen let rip with a thunderbolt form just outside the box, but he saw his attempt skim the left-post and bounce out of play.
In the 80th minute Germany found the second goal in ruthless fashion, hitting on the counter-attack as Mesut Ozil broke with speed and supplied a good ball to find Lars Bender who finished with class, 2-1.
That is the way the match ended as Germany moved onto the quarterfinals and Denmark will head home.
{message}