Iran - Nigeria

In contrast to the previous game, Iran versus Nigeria was likely the least anticipated game of this World Cup, and maybe even the least anticipated game of the last decade of World Cup games. Regardless, it had to be played anyway. Seriously, Iran, Nigeria though.

Nigeria started well. Out of form winger, Victor Moses skipped away from his marker but his shot was saved by the Iranian goalkeeper. Moses had already contributed more to this game than he did for his full season at Liverpool. Nigeria continued to have a number of attacks in the opening stages of the game but were unable to convert any of their chances.

They actually did have the ball in the goal, but it was ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper.

The Iranians seem nervous, and disjointed. Their passes were astray and their positioning poor but they soon began to sort themselves out but they were far from threatening. It took all of 34 minutes for them to register a corner. The resulting header from Charlton Athletic’s Ghoochannejhad was well kept out by the Nigerian goalkeeper.

The game was just as dull and uneventful after the break as well. Moses hit a corner that was as awful as ‘that’ corner by Iago Aspas for Liverpool. Moses came off soon after.

Then it happened, the moment we had all been waiting for happened. The Nigerian Prince,  Shola Ameobi came off the bench and made his World Cup debut, at the age of 31. He did score against Barcelona all those years ago, so it was expected he would score here against the dire Iranian outfit.  He did have a few headed chances but none changed the score line.

Very little continued to happen for the rest of the game, the Super Eagles tried their best to take the lead. Nigeria dominated possession; the stats showed a 63%-37% split in the Africans favour. Iran - under the guidance of ex-Portugal and Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz - were happy to settle for a draw and contain the luminous green shirts.

Finally the referee put this game out of its misery.  The only shining light in this otherwise dire game was the appearance of legendary striker Shola Ameobi. Shola Ameobi at a World Cup though.

These teams should not expect to progress from this group and both their next two games should end in defeat. Hopefully Ameobi nicks a goal though. That’s the dream.

 Iran 0 – 0 Nigeria 

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Germany - Portugal

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.

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 91^st 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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