Germany Vs. Portugal Results And Highlights: 10-Man Portugal No Match For Thomas Mueller's Germany; Final Score 4-0 [VIDEO]

It was an overall horrible day for Portugal as they were not only demolished, but also lost Hugo Almeida and Fabio Contrao to injury and Pepe to a red card. Germany showed the world why they are one of the favorites to lift the trophy at the Maracana in a few weeks time. They were absolutely magnificent on the day as Thomas Mueller scored a hat trick while Ronaldo was seemingly absent from start to finish.

It was a very hot and humid day at the Arena Fonte Nova as Germany and Portugal opened their respective World Cup campaigns. Portugal’s starting lineup was as predicted with Ronaldo up front, while Jogi Loew emitted veterans Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose from the starting XI.

Ronaldo had the first real chance of the game on 7’ minutes only to have his shot blocked from Manuel Neuer, after Philipp Lahm uncharacteristically lost the ball in the midfield. Sami Khedira should have given the Germans the lead a few moments later as his shot went just wide of an open goal after keeper Rui Patricio made a horrible error trying to clear the ball.

It was Germany that took the lead on 12’ minutes though as Thomas Mueller coolly finished his penalty kick after Joao Pereira brought down Mario Goetze in the box. Pereira could be considered lucky to only have received a yellow, as he was the last man in defense. Though both teams looked comfortable in possession at the start it was the Germans that looked more dangerous on the attack.

It was Nani that almost brought the Portuguese level on 25’ minutes as his shot looked to have surprised Manuel Neuer, luckily for the Bayern Munich keeper, the ball skimmed over the crossbar. It was on 32’ minutes when Dortmund defender Mats Hummels scored off a pristine corner kick from Toni Kroos to give the Germans a 2-0 lead. Portugal should have gotten one back on 34’ minutes though when Fabio Contrao had an easy shot close from goal but chose to cross to an offside Ronaldo instead.

It was on 37’ minutes that the game completely turned on its head when Pepe was shown a red card for slightly head-butting Thomas Mueller. It was a questionable call at best, but it could have been Pepe’s reputation that helped the referee make his decision. It was already a tall order to come back from 2-0, but doing it a man down made it that much harder.

What was a tall order became a seemingly impossible task just before halftime as Thomas Mueller beautifully slotted home Germany’s third goal from about eight yards out. Bruno Alves’ defending as well as Rui Patricio’s goalkeeping should be brought into question, but the absence of Pepe was immediately seen.

Mesut Oezil should have put the Germans up four with fifty minutes gone but there was nothing really behind his shot and Patricio easily stuck his leg out to keep it at 3-0. The Germans looked confident and commanding as the game wore on not really wanting to take any chances pushing forward for Portugal to counter.

The world had a chance to see Ronaldo to take a free kick from about twenty-five yards out on 60’ minutes, only to see him kick it straight into the wall. It was the first real time since the opening minutes that Ronaldo was involved in the game. The Germans did a good job of not letting him turn or get any space in which to create in.

The one blow for the Germans on the day was when Mats Hummels looked to have injured his right knee. Though the prognosis on the injury is unknown so far, German fans will hope it is not too serious as Hummels looked very solid on the day.

Portugal were furious on 75’ minutes when they believed they should have been awarded a penalty when Eder was brought down in the box, but the referee decided against it merely adding to Portugal’s frustration.

Thomas Mueller completed his hat trick on 78’ minutes to give the Germans a 4-0 lead after Patricio looked unconvincing on a low cross from Andre Schurrle. It was only fitting as Germany was by far the better side on the day. They looked strong in defense and even better pushing the ball forward. The Germans displayed why they are one of the favorites to win the tournament as they demolished a rather sub-par Portuguese side.