Thomas Muller scored a hat-trick as Germany thrashed 10-man Portugal 4-0 in their opening World Cup game.
Paulo Bento’s side’s chances of getting out of a tough Group G were placed in serious jeopardy as a Thomas Muller-inspired Germany put them to the sword in Salvador on Monday.
Muller – golden boot winner at the 2010 World Cup – continued his superb run at football’s showpiece with a hat-trick, taking him to eight goals in seven appearances at the event.
On his 50th Germany appearance, the Bayern Munich man fired his side in front from the penalty spot before Mats Hummels doubled their advantage with a towering 32nd-minute header.
Pepe then tangled with the forward and headbutted him as he sat on the floor, before their woes were compounded by Muller’s second on the stroke of half-time.
If Bento thought things could not get worse for his side, he was wrong, as defender Fabio Coentrao was taken off on a stretcher with a suspected groin injury in the second half.
And Muller sealed Germany’s big win, capitalising on a Rui Patricio error to tap in with 12 minutes left.
And while the result was a serious statement of intent from Germany – who saw defender Hummels limp off with a late knee injury – Portugal were inexplicably bad, leaving them with an uphill battle to reach the last 16 with games against the USA and Ghana still to come.
Portugal’s preparation was largely focused on Ronaldo, who has been plagued by thigh and knee problems in recent months, but he quickly proved his fitness with a sprint and strike at Germany goalkeeper Neuer after Miguel Veloso stripped Philipp Lahm of the ball.
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