Portugal beat visiting Denmark 3-1 on Friday in a soccer qualifier for the Euro 2012 to be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

It was the first game after the dismissal of their national coach of Portugal who were fourth in their group A with only one point in two matches.

Denmark started playing a defensive game, and Portugal had difficulties in organizing its attacks.

Nani scored in the opener in the 28th minute after a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo in a fast counter attack. Two minutes later, he found the net again from a lost ball by Danish Paulson.

The Dane team narrowed the gap through an own goal by Ricardo Carvalho in the 78th minute. And five minutes later, Ronaldo scored, four months after his last game with the national team.