On Monday, the teams of Group G competed in the 2014 World Cup taking place in Brazil.
At 19:00, the intriguing Germany and Portugal duel began.
At the start of the match, H.Almeida took a shot at the goal, but M.Neuer easily caught the ball. In the 7th minute, C.Ronaldo failed to capitalize on the opportunity to pose a greater threat to J.Lowe's protégés' goal.
Shortly after, Portugal's goalkeeper Patricio made a rough mistake, but S.Khedira missed the empty goal.
In the 10th minute, Pereira brought down M.Gotze in the penalty area and the referee immediately awarded a penalty kick, which was confidently converted by T.Muller.
After the break, M.Ozil passed the ball to M.Gotze, who earned a corner for the Munich representative. However, the Portuguese defenders relaxed too early and left their opponent's defender M.Hummels unattended - he doubled the score with a header.
In the 35th minute, the referee unexpectedly did not notice an offside and P.Bento's players missed the chance to narrow the gap. A few minutes later, Pepe clashed with T.Muller, booped him on the head, and saw a red card.
Before the break, T.Muller scored his second goal and the result became overwhelming.
Portugal tried to score their first goal, but their attacks were blocked by the German defense.
Both teams suffered losses as F.Coentrao and M.Hummels got injured - the defenders were forced to leave the field.
In the 75th minute, the referee did not react to the fallen Portuguese forward in the penalty area, which enraged C.Ronaldo. Moments later, the fourth German goal fell - T.Muller celebrated a 'hattrick'.
Result:
Germany 4 - 0 Portugal
12' [1 - 0] T.Muller (from a penalty kick)
32' [2 - 0] M.Hummels
45' [3 - 0] T.Muller
78' [4 - 0] T.Muller
Starting lineups:
Portugal: Patricio, Pereira, Pepe, Alves, Coentrao, Moutinho, Meireles, Veloso, Nani, Ronaldo, Almeida.
Germany: Neuer; Howedes, Hummels, Khedira, Ozil, Muller, Lahm, Mertesacker, Kroos, Gotze, Boateng.
In other Group G matches for important first points, the teams of Ghana and USA entered the fray. The Americans proved their advantage over the African footballers with a score of 2-1.
The match unexpectedly started with a goal. In the 30th second, Clint Dempsey skillfully bypassed several Ghana defenders and beat the opponent's goalkeeper to put USA in front. Dempsey scored a goal that ranks among the five fastest goal in World Cup history.
After a quick goal, Jurgen Klinsmann's men did not close themselves in defense and continued to attack the opponent's goal with dangerous opportunities, but a little later, the initiative was taken over by the Ghanaians.
In the 21st minute, the US received bad news - one of the team leaders Jozy Altidore got injured, and the young Aron Johannsson took to the field after the substitution.
After nine minutes, Christian Atsu tested Tim Howard's alertness from long range, but his shot went wide of the upper corner.
In the 32nd minute, Ghana's captain Asamoah Gyan also attempted his luck from distance, but T.Howard guarded the goal perfectly. Towards the end of the first half, the Americans created more dangerous opportunities, but no goals were scored.
In the second half, Ghana's players had nowhere to retreat and had to push towards the opponent's goal. In the 55th minute, Sulley Muntari sent the ball towards the goal from long range, but once again the ball flew wide of the goal.
The dangerous attacks continued, but the equalizing goal came only in the 82nd minute, when Jordan Ayew beat T.Howard for the first time in these matches after a pass from Asamoah Gyan.
However, the USA did not break and showed character. Just four minutes later, the Americans surged ahead when Graham Zusi lifted the ball from the corner kick and John Brooks scored with a header.
The USA added three points to their tally and are group leaders along with Germany. After the first group matches, Portugal, along with Ghana, has no points.
Result:
Ghana 1 - 2 USA
1' [0 - 1] C.Dempsey
82' [1 - 1] J.Ayew
86' [1 - 2] J.Brooks
Starting lineups:
Ghana: Howard, Bradley, Besler, Beasley, Dempsey, Bedoya, Jones, Beckerman, Altidore, Cameron, Johnson.
USA: Kwarasey, Gyan, Opare, Atsu, A. Ayew, Muntari, J. Ayew, Rabiu, Mensah, Asamoah, Boye.
Group G standings:
| Place | Team | Matches | Points | Goal difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 2. | USA | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 3. | Ghana | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 4. | Portugal | 1 | 0 | -4 |
