FIFA World Cup 2014: Germany vs Portugal - As it happened...

The Group G opener between Germany and Portugal is expected to be another thriller of a contest.

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Zee Media Bureau/Rajdeep Saha Welcome to our live coverage of the World Cup Group G game between Germany and Portugal at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador. The Group G opener marks the clash between two heavyweights who are prepared to make it large in Brazil. OUR FULL COVERAGE ON WORLD CUP 2014» Germany`s Team Profile» Portugal`s Team Profile» ==================================================================================== Mueller is the hero of the game and that is the first hattrick of this year's World Cup. What a performance by the Bayern Munich forward. Well a big win for the Germans. They look set to make an impact in this World Cup and it will take something to beat this team. On the day Portugal looked really jaded. They paid the price for some reckless decisions on the field much to the delight for Germans. 90'+2'- And the match ends with the scoreline reading Germany 4-0 Portugal. Referee blows the final whistle. Coach Joachim Loew hugs his staff and its merry for Germany. 90'+1'- Portugal win a free-kick outside the German box from about 27 to 28 yards. Ronaldo strikes it beautifully and brings a fine save out of Manuel Neuer, who is forced to dive to his left and bat the ball clear. 90'- Two added minutes awarded. Portugal look in pain and will be happy with the injury time being limited to two minutes. 88'- Yellow Card for Raul Meireles after bringing down Boateng. Ronaldo looks in dismay and he should be such has been Portugal's performance. 86'- Germany have enjoyed 55% of the possession to Portugal's 45%. 85'- Portugal win a free-kick about 35 yards from the German goal. The Germans form a defensive wall. Ronaldo takes the free-kick and shoots straight at Lahm. 83'- What a game for Mueller. Who would have thought the Germans would have thrashed Portugal. 81'- Substitution for Germany. Lukas Podolski replaces hattrick hero Tomas Muller. 79'- Its Germany 4-0 Portugal. What a game for Muller and his great touch in the World Cup continues. 78'- Goal Mueller scores a hattrick for Germany with an assist by Chelsea winger Andre Schurrle from the right. Rui Patricio weakly parried to the feet of Muller, who made no mistake from about two yards out. 75'- Neuer saves from Nani, who shot with ferocious power. Neuer can only parry into the path of Eder. The substitute was slow to react and his touch was poor, but he appeared to be brought down by Howedes. Portuguese appeals for a penalty are dismissed by Referee Mazic, prompting much irritation among the men in red. Ronaldo looks furious. 72'- Substitution for Germany. Shkodran Mustaf replaces Hummels. Mustaf plays for Italian club Sampdoria. 71'- Hummels on the ground after a clash for the ball against Eder. And he goes out and will not participate in the match any further. 68'- Big miss by Mario Goetze after being set off by Schurrle from the right but the Bayern forward takes a bit too much time and his shot is deflected over the bar by diving Joao Pereira. 63'- More misery for Portugal as left back Fabio Coentrao pulls a hamstring and leaves the ground on a stretcher. The injury is a massive blow for Portugal. Andre Almeida replaces him. 61'- Substitution for Germany Andre Schurrle in for Mesut Ozil 60'- Free kick for Portugal after Boateng gets Nani down. Ronaldo to take the free kick outside the German box and shoots straight at the German defensive wall. 58'- Ozil, Khedira and Mario Goetze combine on the right-hand side of the Portugal penalty area, then the ball's hoisted towards the far post, where Thomas Muller is lurking. Joao Pereira leaps and gets his head to the ball, putting it out for throw-in. 57'- Portugal giving the ball away pretty cheaply. A lot depends on ronaldo who has been kept quiet. 56'- Ronaldo denied to make any advance by the German defence and he makes a handball with the opposition getting a free kick. 55'- Portugal win a free-kick halfway inside the German half, which Joao Moutinho takes, sending the ball into the mixer. Per Mertesacker clears. 51'- Goetze puts a through pass for Ozil who is clear and shoots while Patricio dives in time to deny the German. Muller heads the rebound above the cross bar and its still 3-0 for Germany. 49'- Germany enjoying possession here. Lahm doing a good job in the midfield alongside Khedira. 46'- Nani pulls Khedira down and Germany have a free kick in the defensive half. And Twittergoes viral with this action of Raul Meiriles. It will be interesting to see what punishment he gets for this.

I think Meireles is giving his score prediction to the referee here: pic.twitter.com/6UwoWJGtpr

— Joe Morrison (@joefooty) June 16, 2014

Will Portugal keep their heads up and offer a fight or will they perish further? Lets see its kick-off after the break! And the players are making their way out of the tunnel and the second half is about to start. Halftime and Portugal is three goals behind a fiery looking German side. It all started on the wrong note for Portugal. A penalty, a beautiful Hummels header and a terrible attack on Mueller by Pepe sums up to Mueller adding his second minutes later. At the break its Germany 3-0 Portugal 45'- Goal Mueller gets his second and its Germany 3-0 Portugal. The Germans were all above the Portuguese defence. Muller fires past Patricio from 13 yards out, pouncing after Bruno Alves attempted to clear a cross from deep and the ball broke very kindly for him. Poor defending from Alves and Portugal are staring down the barrel. 44'- Germany advance on the attack and Muller's sloe shot reaches safely to Patricio. 39'- 10-man Portugal will have a mountain to climb from here on and that looks unlikely. 37'- Red Card Pepe! Having been caught in possession deep inside his own half by Thomas Muller, he flung his arm back and hit the German as he tried to shield the ball. Muller went to ground, holding his face and making a meal of the challenge, prompting Pep to walk over to him, lean over and stick his head in to his face. That's a straight red - Portugal are in a big trouble now. 36'- Corner for Portugal and Eder heads the ball over the cross bar. Prior to the corner having been picked out by Joao Moutinho with a great pass from deep, Fabio Coentrao attempts to square the ball for Cristiano Ronaldo when he should have shot and scored himself. 33'- Portugal advances with Nani from the right on the break but he fails to find Ronaldo. 32'- Goal Kroos takes in the corner from the right and a perfect header from Mats Hummels see Germany go up 2-0. 31'- Germany on the attack as Ozil sets a beautiful pass for Goetze but Joao Pereira puts in a timely effort to deny Goetze who shoots for a corner. 30'- We are into the half hour mark and Germany leads by a solitary goal. 27'- Almeida is down after being caught by Mats Hummels. Looks to have hurt his left thigh and will miss the match. Eder comes in for Almeida. Substitution 11-Eder in 9-Almeida out. 26'- Pepe tries to play the ball out of defence and is taken on and knocked over by Thomas Muller. He wins a free-kick 25'- Nani shoots with his right foot and the ball just goes above the bar. Close! 24'- Germany enjoying a spell of possession here. They have 55% of the ball so far. 22'- Germany haven't lost a match in the World Cup after scoring first since 1994. Portuguese defence have the ball as Pepe looks for Moutinho. 20'- Pepe attempts to thread a long pass through the centre for Ronaldo to chase. Per Mertesacker intercepts and clears. 19'- Nani is fouled for a foul on Philipp Lahm. Free-kick for Germany, halfway inside their own half. 18'- Muller fires in a cross from the left but the ball goes out for a throw. Clever touches in the Portugal bog from Germany's attacking third but the danger cleared out. 14'- Khedira picks up the ball about halfway inside the Portugal half and gallops down the inside right channel and into the penalty area. Pepe does well to keep up with him. 11'- Goal Mueller scores from the penalty spot after steering home a low foot shot towards the left corner. Germany 1-0 Portugal. 10'- Penalty: Pepe who is all over Goetze downs him and the referee awards a penalty. Mueller to take the penalty. Yellow Card for Pepe. 9'- Patricio is lucky to get away after a goal kick pass goes straight to Khedira who misses the target a big let off for Portugal. 8'- Lahm makes a mistake, allowing Miguel Veloso to mug him and rob the ball a few metres outside the German penalty area while trying to play the ball out from the back. Portugal have a three-on-two and the ball's played left to Ronaldo, who bears down on goal but blasts straight at Manuel Neuer from a tight angle. Big miss for him and Portugal. 6'- From a Germany kick-out, Fabio Coentrao wins the ball on the left and plays it forward to Ronaldo. The winger unleashes a shot from about 30 yards out but the ball flies high and wide of Neuers goal. 4'- Ronaldo goes in a blaze to go past the German defence and a good pass to Almeida who shoots straight to Neuer. 2'- A cross from Boateng from the right flank to Muller. Pepe heads clear and out for a throw-in. Germany win a corner, from which nothing comes. and Germany have a corner after and Portuguese defence steers it to safety. 1'-And we are under way with the match. The fans are ecstatic and it's a beautiful atmosphere. Ball in the German half. The teams are already on the pitch. Its time for the national anthems and the fans to join in. Here are the line-ups for the match Germany: 1-Manuel Neuer, 20-Jerome Boateng, 5-Mats Hummels, 17-Per Mertesacker, 4-Benedikt Hoewedes; 6-Sami Khedira, 16-Philip Lahm; 18-Toni Kroos, 8-Mesut Ozil, 19-Mario Goetze; 13-Thomas Mueller Portugal: 12-Rui Patricio; 21-Joao Pereira, 3-Pepe, 2-Bruno Alves, 5-Fabio Coentrao; 4-Miguel Veloso, 8-Joao Moutinho, 16-Raul Meireles; 7-Cristiano Ronaldo, 9-Hugo Almeida, 17-Nani Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia) Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo who was suffering from tendinosis in his left knee has been declared 100% fit. This is big positive news for Paulo Bento and his side. Ronaldo on his day can tear apart any opposition in the world. He will be boosted by the recent Champions League win with club Real Madrid. Portugal have the likes of Fabio Coentrao, Pepe, Helder Postiga and new young sensation William Carvalho. Postiga was instrumental in the qualifiers and netted five goals for his side. But the main focus will be on their talisman Ronaldo who played a major part in sealing Portugal’s ticket to Brazil. For Germany, who are three-time World Cup winners are one of the favourites in this tournament. Despite missing out on several key players due to injury, the German side still looks at their utmost best with big stars. Key players Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger all come into the competition after various fitness concerns but Joachem Loew is confident of his side’s performance. In the last four major tournaments, Germany have been eliminated from the semi finals on three occasions and finished as runners-up in the other. This year they will like to put the title hoodoo at rest and start in a big manner with a win against Portugal. The match is expected to a tight affair as both teams have wonderful talent on offer. Germany will look to exploit with their attacking prowess and Portugal will rely on Ronaldo magic.