Germany, Portugal. Probably one of the most anticipated matches of the group stages. The German Machine against The Cristiano Ronaldo Show.
Portugal started with the exact same team that ended the Euros in 2013 and they made the better start with Ronaldo to the fore, the superstar made one early chance for Hugo Almeida before drawing a save from Neuer himself. It wasn't long before the favourites gathered themselves together. A poor clearance from Portuguese goalkeeper fell at the feet of Sami Khedira who was unable to place the ball into the empty goal from 30 yards.
Minutes later Gotze broke into the box and tried to wriggle free to get his shot away only to be upended by Portugal defender Joao Pereira. The referee awarded a penalty to the Germans and booked Pereira who could've easily seen red on another day. The Golden Boot Winner of South Africa 2010, Thomas Muller, stepped up and opened his account for Brazil 2014. From then on, it was all Germany with rare flashes of poor Portuguese counters.
Mario Gotze nearly doubled his side’s lead but his shot was deflected wide for a corner that Toni Kroos trotted over to hit. His out-swinging corner exploited the poor zonal marking of the Portuguese defence and Hummels was able to rise above anyone else to nod home a German second.
Things went from bad to worse for Portugal as Pepe was dismissed for an attempted head-butt on the goal scorer, Muller, after just 37 minutes. Typical Pepe. Germany wrapped it up with a third in injury time of the first half. Muller claimed his second.
Portugal rarely threatened in the second half. Ronaldo was lost. He attempted a few long range free kick spectaculars but on one occasion was even unable to be the one man wall. Nani was abysmal and substitute Eder was horrendous for the Portuguese.
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| A frustrated Ronaldo |
Muller completed the rout and his hat trick after bundling the ball over the line from close range following Rui Patricio's inability to hold onto Schurrle's shot.
Ronaldo finally done something of mention when in the 91st minute he hit a fierce 35 yard free kick that stung the hands of Neuer who beat it away for a corner. Unfortunately unlike Messi he doesn't have a team of super stars surrounding him. He has a squad of mediocre team mates that he is expected to carry. Messi can breeze through a game and allow his compatriots to take control to win the game if need be.
Germany 4 – 0 Portugal 
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