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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Argentina - Bosnia

The Bosnians began their first ever world cup campaign at the legendary Maracana stadium against a squad considered to be on the favourites for the tournament, South American’s Argentina.

La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue) squad oozes talent playing for the top clubs in Europe. Zabaleta, Demichellis and Sergio Aguero of Man City, Angel Di Maria of Real Madrid, ex-madrid forward Gonzalo Higuain now of Napoli as well as Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano and world superstar Lionel Messi. The world watched as they anticipated a master class performance from the little Argentine. A good World Cup is the only thing missing from his honours list.

Within three minutes Bosnia were behind. Unfortunate defender Sead Kolasinac saw the ball deflect off him into his own goal whilst defending a dangerous free kick that flicked off Marco Rojo onto the Bosnian defender.

Messi was almost anonymous and many maybe wondered if he would have any impact in this game or in this tournament at all.

Argentina rarely looked like adding to their lead regularly giving the ball away while the Bosnian defence stayed solid and disciplined. Bosnia slowly settled into the game after their early set back. Roma playmaker Miralem Pjanic began to fashion chances for his side but the Baltic side found Sergio Romero in fine form between the Argentine posts.

A tactical shuffle at the break improved La Albiceleste to no ends injecting a sense of urgency and purpose to their play. The change in formation, from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3, also improved the form and fortune of the magician everyone had come to see.

Messi jinked past two Bosnian defenders after a quick one – two with Higuain. The four-time World Player of the Year steadied himself and smashed home a superb solo effort from 18 yards to put the South American’s 2-0 ahead. It was his first World Cup goal since 2006. His excellent display after the goal showed a real pressure had been lifted off the captain’s shoulders. He laid a baton down for rival Cristiano Ronaldo to perform to.

The Bosnians were in no mood to lose their first game without some sort of a struggle. After numerous shots on and off target and multiple corners they finally made their efforts count when Lulic sent Vedad Ibisevic through on goal. He scored Bosnia’s first ever World Cup goal as his left-footed drive slipped through the legs of Romero and bobbled into the goal with 5 minutes remaining, but they were unable to find the equaliser in the remaining time.

Bosnia portrayed a good account of themselves in this first game and Eden Dzeko didn’t even get a mention. If they can get a good performance out of him they could get into the last 16 and with a bit of luck maybe even the Quarter finals. Argentina are expected to go all the way, and if they can perform like they did in the second half, with Lionel Messi firing on all cylinders then they have a real chance of taking the much-acclaimed prize home.

Argentina 2 – 1 Bosnia 

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