A Thomas Muller hat-trick and a Mats Hummels header gave Germany a 4-0 win over 10-man Portugal in the opening game of Group G.

A Thomas Muller hat-trick and a Mats Hummels header gave Germany a 4-0 win over 10-man Portugal in the opening game of Group G.

Cristiano Ronaldo was deemed fit to start by Paulo Bento despite injury worries going into the tournament. The Real Madrid striker took his place in attack alongside Nani and Hugo Almeida, whilst Joachim Low named Lazio’s” data-scaytid=”6″>Lazio’s Miroslav Klose on the bench for Die Mannschaft.

Both teams were hoping to get their tournament off to a winning start at the Arena Fonte Nova, but it was the Seleccao who had the first chance of the game inside five minutes. Ronaldo burst from deep before laying in Almeida, but the Besiktas man fired straight at Manuel Neuer.

It was Sami Khedira though who had the clearest opportunity, missing an open goal just four minutes later. A clearance from goalkeeper Rui Patricio found the Real Madrid man, but from 35 yards, he shanked his shot wide.

It didn’t matter however, as on 12 minutes, the Germans scored. Joao Pereira pulled down Mario Gotze inside the area, and up stepped Muller to slot home from the spot.

That seemed to rattle the Portuguese, but they soon came back and pressed Low’s men – and almost claimed an equaliser as a result. Miguel Veloso robbed possession in the middle of the park, played it out to Nani on the right-hand side, but the Manchester United man could only fire just over the bar from long-range.

Bento’s men weren’t as clinical as their opponents, and that was made more apparent on the half hour mark as Germany went 2-0 up. A corner from the right was swung into the area, and there was Hummels to head in.

Things got even worse for the Iberians late on, as Pepe was shown a straight red card after leading with his head following an altercation with Mulller and the Bayern Munich man then netted a third with a neat close-range finish.

After the break, it was a real struggle for Portugal having gone down to 10 men. The heat of the Salvador afternoon was sapping everyone’s energy, but with a man less, it was even more difficult for the FIFA ranked fourth nation.

Sampdoria’s Shkodran Mustafi came on for Germany late on to add some Serie A interest, but it was Bayern’s Muller who stole the shot – scoring the tournament’s first hat-trick on 78 minutes. A cross from Andre Schurrle was patted out by goalkeeper Rui Patricio, and there was the forward to tap in the rebound.

Germany 4-0 Portugal

Scorers: Muller pen 12, 45, 79 (G), Hummels 32 (G)

Germany: Neuer, Howedes, Hummels (Mustafi 73), Boateng, Mertesacker, Khedira, Lahm, Ozil (Schurrle 62), Muller (Podolski 82), Kroos, Gotze.

Portugal: Patricio, Alves, Pepe, Pereira, Coentrao (A. Almeida 65), Moutinho, Almeida (Eder 28), Veloso (Costa 45), Meireles, Nani, Ronaldo.

Red card: Pepe 38 (P)

Referee: Masic (SRB)

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