Danes just a step away after Cyprus success

Denmark will go into their final outing against Portugal on Tuesday needing victory to qualify for UEFA EURO 2012 after racing to a convincing win away against Cyprus.

The visitors scored four goals in the opening 22 minutes to put the result beyond doubt and leave Group H poised for a tense finale, despite Andreas Avraam pulling a goal back for Cyprus in first-half added time.

The home side were unable to live with Denmark's flowing football early on and Morten Olsen's men made their dominance count when Georgios Pelagia's clearance fell into the path of Lars Jacobsen, who diverted the ball goalwards to give his team the lead. Just four minutes later, Dennis Rommedahl scored his first goal of the match, slotting past Antonis Giorgallides from Christian Eriksen's cutback.

Michael Krohn-Dehli then latched onto a long ball forward and beat the Cyprus goalkeeper to extend Denmark's advantage, and the visitors quickly added a fourth when Rommedahl lifted the ball over the onrushing Giorgallides after some excellent build-up play from Nicklas Bendtner.

Cyprus nearly reduced the deficit when Constantinos Charalambides forced Thomas Sørensen into a save, and they eventually got their goal when Avraam slotted in as the interval beckoned. Charalambides struck a post three minutes after the restart as Cyprus sought to continue an unlikely comeback, though Niki Zimling also connected with the frame of the goal at the other end.

Content with their lead, Denmark calmly played out the rest of the game and will now go into Tuesday's encounter in Copenhagen sure of a top-two berth – and knowing victory will stamp their ticket to Poland and Ukraine.