Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Michael Krohn-Dehli: Who Will Have the Greatest Impact?

Wednesday's match is between two teams that are heading in opposite directions in the 2012 European Championship.

Portugal fell 1-0 to Germany in their opening match. It didn't get the outcome it hoped for, largely in part because Cristiano Ronaldo was not as much of a factor as his team needed him to be.

Denmark scored a stunning upset victory over the Netherlands in their first game of the tournament. Unlike Portugal, the Danes got help from their star player, Michael Krohn-Dehli, who scored in the 24th minute against the Netherlands. 

Krohn-Dehli took capitalized on a deflection, weaved his way into the box and fired a laser through Maarten Stekelenburg's legs.

This upcoming match will be decided by which team's best player plays better than the other.

Consensus would say that Ronaldo is the superior player, and rightfully so. However, he hasn't played up his club play standards on the international level. Against Germany, he wasn't much of a factor, which is surprising considering how well Portugal actually played.

That just goes to show you that if Ronaldo doesn't perform as necessary, Portugal isn't going to get a win. Bruno Alves, Nani and Pepe all had fine games, but it was Ronaldo who couldn't make the impact that his team desperately needed him to make.

Eleven corner kicks should have been enough to give the Portuguese enough opportunities to score more goals. Pepe had a chance in front of the net and came within inches of putting his team out in front, but he was denied by the crossbar.

The Danes had far fewer chances in the game than Portugal. They were out shot 28-8 in the match, but every one of their shots were on target. In a game against a superior opponent, it's crucial to capitalize on every opportunity that they get.

Krohn-Dehli is Denmark's best player.

He's the most dangerous attacker they have, and they will need him to exhibit the same ball skills that he demonstrated against the Dutch. His runs to the goal need to be well-timed and precise, or else Alves and Pepe won't have much of a problem shutting him down.

The one area that Krohn-Dehli is better than Ronaldo is in defensive contributions. He'll be in the defensive third when Nani pushes the ball up and prove that he is capable of playing both ends against the Netherlands.

Portugal has the star power on their side, but Denmark has three more points.

If Portugal wants to avoid falling into the doldrums of the "Group of Death," it will need Ronaldo to create for himself and find the back of the net at least once over the course of the 90 minutes.

If Denmark wants to take the lead in the group and all but ensure that it will move on to play a team from Group A, a stellar performance out of Krohn-Dehli is vital.