Thomas Muller’s hat-trick thrust Germany into centre stage in this thrilling World Cup as Joachim Low’s side demolished Portugal, their strongest Group G opponents, in Salvador.
Portugal were already 2-0 down before they imploded completely with Pepe, always the man most likely to lose his head, shown a straight red card for a light head-butt on Muller.
Germany, utterly dominant despite playing without a recognised centre forward, went on to win 4-0 with a hat-trick for Muller – the golden boot winner at the last World Cup – and a thunderous header from Mats Hummels.
It meant a hugely disappointing result for world player of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo, who had declared himself fully fit from his knee injury.
Portugal faces a real test now in a strong group with USA and Ghana, where goal difference is likely to prove crucial, and to make matters worse lost another key defender, Fabio Coentrao, to a nasty-looking injury.
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