Germany opened their 2014 World Cup campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win over 10-man Portugal thanks to a hat-trick from Thomas Muller.
The match started with both sides presented with very good chances to make the breakthrough. While Cristiano Ronaldo's shot from a very tight angle was saved by Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira missed a sitter after Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio gifted him the ball at the other end.
However, to Khedira's relief, Germany soon made the breakthrough in the 11th minute. Mario Gotze was brought down by Joao Pereira in the box and the referee awarded a penalty to Germany. Muller stepped up and made no mistake, as he eased the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
Moments later, Portugal nearly grabbed the equaliser when Nani's effort narrowly missed the post in the 26th minute.
They were soon made to pay for their missed opportunity as Mats Hummels doubled Germany's lead at the half hour mark. Toni Kroos whipped in a corner and Hummels rose above his marker to find the net with an absolutely stunning header.
Portugal's evening went from bad to worse after Pepe was sent off after his angry confrontation with Muller. The Portuguese defender had caught Muller with his arm while challenging for the ball. After the German forward reacted and fell to the ground holding his face, Pepe came to him and angrily clashed his head with Muller. Finally the referee had no choice but to show him a red card.
Germany, taking advantage of their numerical advantage, further extended their lead just before half time through Muller, who fired home. The second half started with Germany getting their foot off the gas as they looked to conserve their energy.
However, they did get a couple of chances to further extend their lead in the opening period of the second half. While Mesut Ozil's close range effort could not get past Patricio, Muller headed the rebound over the crossbar.
With Portugal getting into their shells, Germany wasted a very good opportunity when Gotze blasted his deflected effort over the crossbar in the 70th minute.
However, Germany soon made up for their earlier miss by grabbing their fourth through Muller, who completed his hat-trick after finding the net with a close-range effort.
Check out the highlights of the game below:
