The Group of Death is obviously difficult, but it is about to extra death-y. It's Germany vs. Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Mesut Ozil, and let's leave it at that because the rest of the matchups tilt heavily to the Germans.
Germany Vs. Portugal, Euro 2012: Lineups
The biggest surprise in the two teams' lineups is that Bastian Schweinsteiger will start. He has battled fitness issues for a few months now and some questioned if he would be both fit enough and in good enough form to start. Apparently, he is, and if he has it all together then Germany is on a whole other level. His fitness was possibly the only question people had about this German team.
With the Netherlands falling to Denmark, this match could determine the Group B winner. Because the winner of the group will end up on the opposite side of the bracket as Spain -- assuming the Spanish win their group -- taking this group is huge.
Germany (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm; Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Thomas Müller, Mesut Özil, Lukas Podolski; Mario Gomez.
Portugal (4-3-3): Rui Patrício; João Pereira, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Fabio Coentrão; Miguel Veloso, João Moutinho, Raul Meireles; Nani, Helder Postiga, Cristiano Ronaldo.
We’ll have live coverage of the game in our Germany vs. Portugal, Euro 2012 StoryStream. For more on Euro 2012 and the entire world of football, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.
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