Mueller stunned after easy Portugal rout

German striker delivers treble in team’s 4-0 win.

SALVADOR: Thomas Mueller and his Germany teammates could hardly believe their eyes when they looked up at the scoreboard early in the first half and saw they were leading Portugal 2-0 in their World Cup opening match on Monday.

The Germany striker had scored the first of his three goals in the 4-0 rout of the team they feared most in Group G and he was soon involved in an incident that all but ended Portugal’s hopes of a comeback.

“We looked up and thought ‘Hoopla!’” Mueller told Germany’s ARD television. “There was still a long match ahead of us and it was really hot in the sun.”



Things got even hotter for Mueller a quarter hour later when he got entangled in an incident with Portugal defender Pepe that led to the World Cup’s third red card.

Mueller said he felt Pepe’s fist strike his head as both players tried to head a ball and the big German went crashing to the ground.

Pepe, angry at what he thought was Mueller’s exaggerated fall, went over to Mueller on the ground and pushed his head into the German’s.

Mueller jumped on his feet and the two shouted at each other for a tense moment before being separated. Pepe was sent off.

“I’d like to see that on TV,” said Mueller. “I only hope that I looked okay. I just hope it didn’t look stupid on TV.”

The Bayern Munich striker said he and his teammates had a great time running up the score against Portugal and even lamented the fact they wasted several good chances in the first half.

Queiroz delighted with dour Iran draw

Iran’s ugly 0-0 draw with Nigeria was met by jeers from disapproving Brazilian fans in the crowd, but coach Carlos Queiroz only saw beauty in the fight, determination and discipline shown by his unheralded players.

The African champions dominated the Group F contest for long periods, but struggled to find a way through the defensively-sound Asians as the World Cup goal-fest ground to a halt.

Queiroz made no apologies for his tactics and defended his players for celebrating the point, only the sixth Iran have claimed in four World Cup appearances.

“Sometimes when you play with great attitude, with commitment, with soul, emotions and tensions, football can also be an attractive game,” the Mozambique-born coach told reporters.

“Of course people prefer to see four or five goals, I understand that, but for us we prefer to go home with one point.

“We don’t have players from Liverpool, Chelsea and Lazio in our team. My players celebrated their hard work, the concentration, the attitude. They deserved to celebrate.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2014.

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