Thomas Mueller scores hat-trick as Die Mannschaft annhiliate Portugal 4-0 in Group G opener
Thomas Mueller scored a hat trick as Germany turned on its style and power to rout 10-man Portugal 4-0 in their World Cup Group G opener on Monday.Mueller, who scored five goals at the 2010 World Cup, was ruthless against a weak Portugal team that was clearly outplayed.
With Chancellor Angela Merkel supporting in the stands, the German team celebrated its 100th World Cup match with a rousing victory that virtually assured by halftime.
Mueller scored either side of Mats Hummels' headed goal as Germany took a 3-0 lead at the break, and added his third goal in the 81st. Portugal was already 2-0 down before Pepe was red carded in the 37th minute for apparently head-butting Mueller when the German player was sitting on the ground.
It was Mueller who opened the scoring in the 12th minute after Mario Goetze had been pulled down by Joao Pereira in the box, coolly slotting the penalty kick into the right corner of Rui Patricio's goal.
Hummels had risen above Pepe to double Germany's lead with a well-timed header from a corner in the 32nd, and Mueller extended the buffer just before the break when he stripped the ball from Bruno Alves and drilling in a low shot.
The Bayern Munich forward completed the rout late in the second half, poking in from close range after Patricio had fumbled a low cross from substitute Andre Schuerrle.
Cristiano Ronaldo started for Portugal at Arena Fonte Nova after overcoming a knee injury. He threatened early in the match, including a shot from a break that Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer could only block, but there was nobody from Portugal to pounce on the rebound.
Portugal also lost big striker Hugo Almeida to an injury. He was replaced by Eder in the 28th.Fabio Coentrao injured a groin muscle and was helped off the field in 65th, to be replaced by Andre Almeida.
Hummels then limped off the field with a right-knee injury, giving substitute defender Shkodran Mustafi his second cap.In the second Group D match later Monday, the United States was playing Ghana at Natal.
Meanwhile, Müller was vilified for over-doing his reaction to a shove in the face by Pepe, but even if Germany's lone striker looked as if he were searching for a missing tooth as he sat on the turf the blame rests with his assailant.
Yes, Müller was a drama queen, but he was not appealing to the referee to have Pepe dismissed. He was sitting quietly on the turf rummaging around his own mouth. A jab of the fingers from Portugal's unlovable centre-back was hardly a right-hander from Carl Froch. Yet it probably hurt enough for Müller to stop to assess the damage.
It was then that Pepe displayed his old violent self. Marching up to Müller, he leant down and butted him lightly on the head while firing off verbal abuse. Those who think Müller cheated ought to acknowledge that he might have exaggerated the weight of the head-tap and thrown himself horizontal.
Instead he leapt up to remonstrate. By then Milorad Mazic was already reaching for his card.Pepe has previous, of course. He is one of the most thuggish players in modern football and was Real Madrid's most incorrigible bully when Barcelona's tiki-taka was tying the current European champions in knots. He would run 40 yards to start an argument and was even more sneaky than Sergio Ramos.
To attack Müller (however lightly) right in front of the referee stretches the definition of stupidity. Any use of the head in which contact is made has to lead to a dismissal, because to allow a 'soft' butt invites players to go in hard and then argue about 'degree' with the match officials.