Bento planning for crucial clash

Portugal coach Paulo Bento has acknowledged his side are under intense pressure ahead of their Euro 2012 contest against Denmark.

Portugal go into the match against Morten Olsen’s side looking for their first points of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine after losing 1-0 to Germany in their Group B opener on Saturday.

Denmark sprung a surprise to beat the Netherlands 1-0 in their first match, and will be hoping for a repeat of their 2-1 win over Portugal the last time the two countries met in October 2011.

“I think there is no favourite for tomorrow,” Bento told reporters at a press conference.

“Two teams eye-to-eye with each other.

“These two teams are very equal in terms of chances in their last games. Teams with ambition, the same goal desire to advance in this tournament.

“Of course, the result of the first match could make Denmark appear in an advantage. But we will give 100 percent. We know that we already succeeded once, and that we can succeed again.

“We have more pressure than we did against Germany, but this is not the first time that the players have been in this situation, and anyone who plays football must be ready to win in these situations. We must not lose the will to win.”

Striker Helder Postiga has come under fire after turning in a disappointing performance against Germany, but Bento claims he has not lost faith in the Real Zaragoza man.

“I liked my team’s display against Germany,” he said.

“After watching the game again, I still have that idea.

“We did enough to secure a completely different result. To close this discussion, tomorrow’s striker will be Helder.”

“We lost the first game against one of the favourites for the title. We lost even though we played very well.

“I think it was unfair because we did not deserve to lose. A draw against Germany was not our aim – we were trying to win the game.

“We had a certain period in the game that we were playing well and we deserved a goal.”