Beaten and bruised Denmark target quarters

Disappointment was the pervading emotion among the Denmark squad after their late loss to Portugal but also a sense of determination that they capitalise on having their fate still in their own hands when they aim to secure qualification from Group B against Germany on Sunday.

Simon Kjær, Denmark defender
We were lacking a bit in the first half hour when they were coming at us fast. After that, I think we played really well and we scored two great goals. We showed belief in what we're doing. So it's disappointing to see them score at the end. We've got to learn from this and it is still in our own hands.

We let three goals in – we cannot concede any goals against Germany. Apart from that, it is hard for me right now to say what we need to improve. Of course I'm disappointed, but I think that when we watch the video we will be satisfied.

Daniel Agger, Denmark captain
It's frustrating and I think we deserved better. We played well. We conceded some stupid goals, especially after we got it back to 2-2. With three to four minutes left, we can't afford to be that naive – you get punished at this level. We did better in keeping possession than we did against the Netherlands, and passed it around so they had to chase us but it's just frustration right now.

Michael Krohn-Dehli, Denmark forward
I think the spectators saw a good match. We got off to a poor start and trailed 2-0, but after that I feel we controlled the game and deserved to get back to 2-2. That's how we train and how we want to play. You could start playing long balls after you go 2-0 down, but that is not what we're good at. We worked at getting more possession, which I think we did well today, and also played a bit higher up the field. It's obvious we need a result against Germany and we're very keen to progress. We still have a chance so we just have to give it our best try.

Jakob Poulsen, Denmark midfielder
Portugal have a lot of good defensive players and today that made all the difference – they were always very dangerous from set pieces. They scored two individual goals as well. But I'm very disappointed that we didn't hold on to the draw. When we play our last match we will have forgotten all about this, because we know that we still have a good chance of continuing. If we'd got the draw today we would have been in a very good position before the last match, but now it's wide open. It is going to be very exciting.

Simon Poulsen, Denmark defender
It's really disappointing. We fought very hard to get back into the game and recovered from 2-0 down. At 2-2 we had a point which [would have been] a really good result for us. And in the last minute we threw it away. [Germany on Sunday] will be a very difficult game, but we have to go for victory. That's what we did today and we didn't succeed, so let's hope we can do it against Germany. I'm optimistic.