What is up, people of the internet? So, you may know that the World Cup is just around the corner and we here at BFW are putting together a series of articles about Germany in the build-up to the tournament itself. Teddy is already working on the top 10 goals that Germany has scored in World Cup history, so I proposed an idea that we should relive the best wins that Die Mannschaft has experienced. Which is why I’m here to introduce my top 10 Germany wins at the World Cup.
For this, I’m going to include
matches that I know and watched in person (live, on the TV, haven’t got the facilities to watch Germany live in the stadium yet) and I will also rank each match based on how special the match is to me.
5. Germany 4-0 Portugal, 2014 World Cup Group Stage
At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Germany was a contender for the trophy and had plenty of reason to believe that they could go on and win the whole tournament. Before that, however, the group stage began and Die Mannschaft took on Portugal in the first match of the group. Around this time, the debate on who’s better between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was at full steam although their international honors paled in comparison to their club achievements. Neither of them had ever won the World Cup with their respective nations, and now is the time for Ronaldo to show the world what he can do.
The match kicked off in Salvador, located in the state of Bahia. The match started relatively calmly despite scoring opportunities for both sides; Ronaldo already started going for broke early on, clearly wanting to be the hero of his team. Rui Patricio soon gave the ball away to Sami Khedira who watched his attempt trickle wide of the post. It wouldn’t be the only thing that’s been given, as João Pereira manhandled Mario Götze inside the box which was deemed enough for a penalty. The Portuguese players immediately swarmed the ref, who wouldn’t be swayed as he issued a yellow card to Pereira for his challenge. Thomas Müller stepped up and fired low and hard into the bottom left corner to give Germany the lead inside 11 minutes.
The game saw more chances from Germany and Portugal, but the match became increasingly physical, and it’s only the first half! Credit to Germany, who were excellent in snuffing out Portuguese attacks. Germany’s next big chance fell to Götze who couldn’t get his shot on target, but that didn’t matter because they were rewarded with a second goal. Toni Kroos sent in a corner and Mats Hummels towered over Pepe and Bruno Alves to head it powerfully past Patricio to give the Germans their second goal after just over an hour played.
An already heated match just got another twist to the tale as Pepe took Müller down and then headbutted him while he was on the ground. The referee had no choice but to send Pepe off, who walked to the tunnel and dressing room to a chorus of jeers from the mostly Brazilian crowd. This is presumably due to Pepe being born a Brazilian but chose to play for Portugal. Even Ronaldo was booed by over 51,000 people.
Just before the end of the half, Kroos curled a cross in which was met by Bruno Alves who inadvertently passed the ball to Müller who tucked the ball away for his second and Germany’s third. Ronaldo’s World Cup got off to a terrible start: 3-0 down against a good Germany side is not what he had in mind at the tournament, less so than his teammate being given marching orders.
Portugal was at a loss for what to do as the second half resumed and could not conjure anything that threatened the Germans. In fact, it got so bad that Ronaldo tried a free kick from way out and managed to hit a solitary Lahm, who was the shortest player on the pitch, and drew laughter from the commentators. Later, Luis Nani and Fábio Coentrão ran into each other during an attacking play; Coentrão would eventually injure himself after going for a ball intended for him. The Lusos went even further down when substitute André Schürrle latched onto a pass that fellow substitute André Almeida failed to intercept, which allowed Schürrle to cross the ball into the box. Patricio parried it straight to Müller who tapped the ball into the net for his first and only hat-trick with the German national football team.
If there were any lingering doubts about Portugal holding a big fat L, then it’s certain now. Ronaldo and his team looked hapless against Müller’s Germany, and they simply accepted their fate when the full-time whistle came. Portugal’s 2014 World Cup nearly went from bad to worse because in the next game against the United States, they drew 2-2 and only managed to score thanks to a mistimed clearance and a last-minute equalizer. Ronaldo did score Portugal’s winning goal against Ghana in the last match, but Germany beating the United States at the same time meant that by virtue of goal difference, Portugal were out.
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