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Live: Germany v Portugal

Dave RaishJune 16, 2014

Germany have trounced Portugal in their opening World Cup game thanks to a hat trick from Bayern's Thomas Müller. Joachim Löw's boys triumphed by a surprising four-goal margin after Portugal went down to 10 men.

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Fifa Fußball WM 2014 Deutschland Portugal
Image: Reuters

The Germans went searching for their fourth World Cup title when they took on Portugal in Salvador on Monday.

Coach Joachim Löw went with a somewhat unconventional back line, starting Jerome Boateng, Per Mertesacker, Mats Hummerls and Benedikt Höwedes.

Captain Philipp Lahm emulated his positional evolution at Bayern Munich with the national team, moving from right back to holding midfielder alongside Sami Khedira.

Up front, Germany's lone striker Miroslav Klose was on the bench. homas Müller played in the "false nine" role, with Mesut Özil and Mario Götze on either side of him.

Müller opened the scoring for Germany just after the 10 minute mark. After Joao Pereira brought down Götze in the box, Müller duly dispatched the penalty.

Hummels made it 2-0 just beyond the half-hour mark when he headed in Toni Kroos' corner. Pepe was sent off five minutes later following a push on Thomas Müller; the Real Madrid defender also confronted him in the aftermath and it was not entirely clear which incident referee Milorad Mazic awarded the card for.

Müller capped off a marvelous first half for the Germans with a second in stoppage time.

The game was somewhat quieter in the second period, although Mesut Özil and Mario Götze both squandered excellent chances to add to the German tally. Eventually, as Löw began to dip into his bench, a fourth goal fell to Müller.

The Bayern forward, defending his Golden Boot from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, finished from point-blank range after goalie Rui Patricio failed to deal with a low cross from sub Andre Schürrle. In seven career World Cup games, Müller now has an incredible eight goals.

Here are the lineups:

Germany: Manuel Neuer - Jerome Boateng, Per Mertesacker, Mats Hummers, Benedikt Höwedes - Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos - Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller, Mario Götze

Portugal: Rui Patricio - Bruno Alves, Pepe, Joao Pereira, Fabio Coentrao - Joao Moutinho, Miguel Veloso, Raul Meireles - Nani, Hugo Almeida, Cristiano Ronaldo