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Denmark came into the contest full of confidence after upsetting the Netherlands 1-0 in their opening match on Saturday, while Portugal were faced with the possibility of an early exit following their defeat to Germany by the same score-line.

Real Madrid defender Pepe earned Portugal the lead with a near-post header from a corner in the 24th minute of the match in Lviv.

Paulo Bento's team made it 2-0 nine minutes before the half-time break, when Helder Postiga sided-footed home from close range.

Four minutes later, Denmark gained a foothold in the contest when Michael Krohn-Dehli headed a ball back across the Portugal goal, with Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner nodding home to make it 2-1.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo had a chance to win the match for his team but shot wide when one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the 77th minute.

And just moments afterwards, Bendtner made him pay for the mistake, evading his marker at the back post to net the equaliser with his second header of the match.

It looked like Denmark had done enough to earn a point, but an accomplished strike from substitute Silvestre Varela with four minutes remaining saw Portugal take all three points.

Denmark, who named an unchanged side from their win over the Netherlands, started brightly, and forced a flurry of corners early in the game to keep Portugal under pressure.

But despite their lack of initial enterprise, Bento's men threatened first, Miguel Veloso whipping in a good ball from a short corner which was punched away by Stephan Andersen.

There was bad news for Denmark just past the quarter-hour mark when Niki Zimling was forced off through injury, with Jakob Poulsen coming on as his replacement.

Portugal improved shortly after, and slowly began to play their way back into the game.

Ronaldo, as ever, was at the heart of things, dragging a one-two with Veloso wide before hammering a free-kick into orbit.

Portugal then struck first after 24 minutes. Joao Moutinho took charge of a corner, and Pepe stole a march at the near post to plant a header past Andersen and into the back of the net.

They would make the most of their momentum, and doubled their advantage in the 37th minute.

Nani found himself with time and space on the right flank, and squared low to Postiga, who ghosted ahead of Simon Kjaer to lash into the top corner.

Denmark were quick to react though, and halved the deficit within four minutes. Kvist Jorgensen clipped towards Krohn-Dehli at the far post, who nodded back across the six-yard box for Bendtner to head into an empty net.

Portugal almost replicated their second goal on the stroke of the interval, but this time Kjaer was able to slide ahead of Postiga to hack away another dangerous cross from Nani.

Ronaldo then had a glorious chance to put Portugal 3-1 up four minutes into the second half. The Real Madrid star was put clean through on goal, but his attempted slot into the bottom corner was read well by Andersen.

Shortly after, a terrible giveaway from Simon Poulsen gifted Postiga the opportunity to pounce, but the striker was then flattened by Agger to snuff out the chance.

Denmark were forced into another change on the hour mark, as Dennis Rommedahl hobbled off in obvious discomfort, with Tobias Mikkelsen coming on in his place.

Despite the setback, the Danes were inching their way back into the match. Kvist caused a few hearts to flutter with a thunderous drive from the edge of the area which whistled inches away from the top corner.

Bendtner was next to try his luck after plucking a pass out of the air at the corner of the box, but his finish did not match his control, and was scuffed wide of the mark.

Denmark should have been dead and buried on 78 minutes, but were spared thanks to another awful miss from Ronaldo. The 27-year-old found himself one-on-one again with Andersen, but his finish was side-footed well wide of the mark.

Within three minutes, Denmark would make him pay. Lars Jakobsen lifted a cross toward the far post over the head of Pepe, where Bendtner was waiting to head home via the woodwork.

However, just when it looked like they had thrown the game away, Varela rescued all three points with a well-taken half-volley from a Fabio Coentrao cross to settle the game in Portugal's favour.

Group B proceedings finish on Sunday, when Portugal face Netherlands, followed by Denmark's clash against Germany.

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