World Cup 2014: Germany Dismantles Portugal
Baku, June 17 (AZERTAC). In the six months since the World Cup draw threw Germany and Portugal together—along with the U.S. and Ghana—for the first round, Group G has been referred to repeatedly as this tournament's Group of Death.
Germany took note of it and shrugged. In the space of 45 minutes here on Monday, it thoroughly dismantled Portugal with three first-half goals on the way to a 4-0 victory.
Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller stole the show with a hat-trick, but it was only the logical culmination of superb attacking play from Germany, which carved Portugal apart all afternoon. The resistance that Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had expected to turn this game into a "World Cup final" never materialized from Portugal. Or at least, it never caught up to the trio of Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos and Mario Gotze.
They surprised us when we were off balance and incapable of counter attacking," Portugal head coach Paulo Bento said.
Muller opened the scoring in the 11th minute from the penalty spot, after Gotze was held back by Joao Pereira. Defender Mats Hummels added a second with a header from a Toni Kroos corner in the 32nd minute. Kroos again provided the assist on the third for Muller. And Muller swept home the fourth after Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio spilled a cross in the second half.
"Let's not do as if we're some sort of overwhelming power," Muller said with typical understatement.
The low point for Portugal came in the 38thminute when Muller went down under incidental contact from Pepe, a Real Madrid defender. Pepe thought Muller's reaction was excessive and told him so—with a head butt. He received a straight red card and the one-game suspension that comes with it. It was Portugal's sixth red card in 15 World Cup games dating back to 2002, according to Opta Sports.
Combined with an apparent second-half thigh injury to Fabio Coentrao, it means that Portugal will be playing for World Cup survival when it meets the U.S. on June 22 in Manaus, without as many as two of its starting defenders.
Portugal, which has been labeled a dark horse in so many tournaments that it might just be a regular slow horse, might also have to cope with a frustrated, subpar Cristiano Ronaldo. He fought through lingering knee and thigh problems to play in Brazil. But he was so muzzled in the first half, confined to wild gesticulation and sighs of exasperation, that he only played nine passes over the 45 minutes. Five of them went backward.
The moment Germany's third goal hit the net, Ronaldo ripped the captain's armband off his left arm, ready to fling it to the turf. He held back, but his slumping body language was a long way from his look the last time the world saw him in a competitive game. From ripping his shirt off after scoring in the final minute of the Champions League final in May, here he was trudging toward the sideline, glaring at the benches.
He seemed just as exasperated in the second half, shouting at his teammates—and anyone else who would listen. Late in the game, even Bento had to calm him down after a penalty decision went against Portugal.
Germany too came into this tournament with its fair share of injury problems. Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira, and Philipp Lahm all recovered enough to start. But midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who arrived carrying a knee injury, was held out of the lineup.
"During preparation, we had several injury problems that affected the players," Germany head coach Joachim Löw said in his pre-match news conference. "But I believe these are behind us."
Germany looking good early in a tournament? That much is expected, with or without injuries. It's the latter stages where Die Mannschaft runs into trouble. Germany has reached the semifinals or final of the past three World Cups and two European Championships, but failed to win any of those competitions.
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