Bendtner turned down the opportunity of representing his country at the 2011 European Under-21 Championships because he wanted to "spend some quality time with [his] young son". In qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012, he scored two goals for the senior team in a 2–0 win against Norway on 6 September 2011. On 11 October, he scored a "second-half tap-in" against Portugal to ensure Denmark qualified for Euro 2012. In friendlies in November, Bendtner scored against both Sweden and Finland; in the latter match, he "finished a fine counterattacking move to net the winning goal".