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WC MOTD: Germany 4-0 Portugal

By on June 16, 2014

Cristiano Ronaldo might have bore through the pain of an injury and played in Portugal’s all important opening match of World Cup 2014 against Germany, but by the end of the full ninety minutes he featured in, it seemed as if it would have been better for Portugal’s main man to rest up for his side’s matches against the USA and Ghana.  Neither Ronaldo or Portugal ever really got going, and before the half was over their chance to ride to a victory was done and dusted – Germany found themselves up by three goals at the end of the first forty-five.  And in all honesty, it was Portugal did themselves in. Wasting the few glorious chances they had, and then conceding a penalty for Germany’s first goal, before, of course, Pepe got himself sent of, ending all chances that they would even get a draw out the match.

It wasn’t as if Germany were shabby themselves, though, although their defense did get caught out just three minutes into the match.  Ronaldo burst away down the left before feeding the ball back in the middle to the run of Hugo Almeida, yet just as Almeida looked to have broken away the forward took himself slightly too far wide of the goal, and ended up seeing his weak chipped effort easily caught by Manuel Neuer.  Just three minutes later the Germans once again screwed themselves again, as Sami Khedira missed a wide open goal by inches from thirty yards after Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio mis-timed a clearance.  Yet luck would fall with Joachim Löw’s side, and eleven minutes in referee Milorad Mazic handed Germany the first goal by awarding them a penalty after João Pereira tugged down Mario Gotze. Thomas Muller stepped up to take the spot-kick, and coolly converted into the bottom right corner. Germany were off to the races.

Nani gave German hearts a scare with a dipping effort that spun just over the crossbar, but Germany were soon back on the attack, and so nearly grabbed a second goal a half hour in when they caught Portugal on the ball in the midfield. Low’s side dispossessed Portugal and poked the ball to Toni Kroos, who then lobbed a beautiful diagonal ball over the top to the run of Ozil down the right side of the box. Ozil cut the ball back and laid it off to Gotze, but the winger saw his curled first time effort from fifteen yards deflected just around the post.  Yet Germany didn’t rue the miss for long; from the following corner Mats Hummels got above his marker to power a header into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

It wasn’t an impossible mountain for Portugal to climb,  but Pepe made it ever so much harder for them to do so just moments later, reacting to Muller going down and butting his head at Muller’s. It rewarded the hot-headed center-back with a straight red card.  Portugal were down to ten men, so it wasn’t surprising that in the dying moments of the first half Germany put the match beyond them with a third goal as Muller volleyed a blocked Bruno Alves clearance into the top left corner via the glove of Patricio.

And once again, Germany were set off.  They dominated almost all of the second half, and really should have made it four fifty minutes in when Ozil was slipped in down the right. The Arsenal midfielder saw his original low effort blocked by the onrushing Patricio, and Muller could only head the rebound into the side netting under pressure.  Gotze found himself in a golden position on the break soon after, only to find his fifteen yard shot deflected over the crossbar.  Neuer then had to deal with a fierce Nani effort, but Germany finally found their fourth twelve minutes from time. At the same time, Muller found his hat-trick, tapping the ball into the back of the open net after Patricio spilled a low shot from Philipp Lahm. It sealed the embarrassment for Portugal, and not the least helped the mood of Ronaldo, who was presumably tight knit already due to his injury.
Man of the Match: Thomas Muller

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.