Thomas Muller scored the first hat-trick of
the 2014 World Cup as Germany inflicted a 4-0 defeat over 10-man Portugal to
take them to the top of Group G.
It was promoted as one of the matches of
the tournament, but ended up being dominated by Germany, as Portugal were made
to suffer their biggest defeat in a World Cup Final.
Matt Hummels’ first-half header gave the
Germans a two-goal advantage in the 32nd minute after Muller had converted
a 12th minute penalty. Real Madrid’s Pepe made matters worse when he
appeared to headbutt Muller and any chances of a revival were thwarted when
Muller made it 3-0 before half-time.
The Bayern Munich forward added a fourth
goal after 78 minutes to complete his hat-trick, taking his World Cup total to
eight goals, as he aims to repeat his performance from South Africa and win the
coveted Golden Boot.
In the other Group G match, the USA scored
an 86th minute goal to defeat Ghana 2-1 after Clint Dempsey scored
the fifth fastest World Cup goal in 29 seconds to give them an early lead.
Dempsey’s early strike means that he has
scored in three successive World Cups and his goal set the tone for most of the
match, as Ghana struggled to bounce back.
Four minutes before the winning goal, Andre
Ayew latched on to Asamoah Gyan’s backheel to put Ghana level, but John Brooks
headed the late winner to secure three points for USA.
