Never before since the FIFA World Rankings were launched a couple of decades ago have three of the top five teams been slotted in the same pool in a major tournament. Add another top 10 team into the mix and Group B lives up to its name – The Group of Death.

Euro 2012: The Contenders – Germany

Though last edition’s runners-up Germany and the World Cup runners-up Netherlands are expected to go through to the last eight, Portugal led by a red hot Cristiano Ronaldo and Denmark aren’t the easiest opponents you would want to face.

Germany:

With three World Cups and three European Championships to their name, Germany are technically the most successful team in Europe. A runners-up medal in the last Euro sandwiched by two third place finishes in the World Cup say that their recent run of form isn’t that bad either. Joachim Low’s team has a very settled look as the core part of the team that dazzled in South Africa with their attacking style of play hasn’t been meddled with. Germany come to Poland and Ukraine once again as one of the strongest contenders having won all of their qualification games and netting 34 times in the process.
Germany go to the Championships knowing that a failure to win would match their 16 yearstreak without a trophy when they first won the World Cup in 1954.

Key Player: Germany would bank heavily on Bastian Schweinsteiger to play the role of the anchor, the creator and the midfield maestro to make progress in the tournament. Schweinsteiger would be keen to put behind his memory of a disappointing season where his missed penalty cost Bayern Munich the chance to win the Champions league before which they finished second in the Bundesliga and were thrashed in the Super Cup.

Other Stars: Mario Gomez, Phillip Lahm, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller

Prediction: Finals, another case of so close and yet so far.

Germany can be expected to finish in the top two in a group comprising of the Dutch, the Portuguese and the Danes and hit peak form against a relatively easier opponent in the Quarterfinals but as has been the case with the German team of the last six years, expect them to stumble at the final stages.

Tags: Denmark, EURO 2012, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal