The Germans never disappoint in putting forth a good game, and the same is true for a Portuguese side which is still trying to prove itself to the world.
Neither team wasted any time after kick-off to make a name for itself in this year's European Championship, with both teams going on the offensive pretty quickly. Germany threw Muller, Podolski, Özil and Mario Gomez together and from those four men emerged a relatively fluid attacking style that failed mostly in the final execution, including Muller's relatively poor crosses.
The Bayern Munich player kept over-shooting his target, making his passes slightly off center. Despite that, he still shows signs of being a key part of Germany's future and he continues to improve from one game to the next.
Portugal did not sit back and watch. Combining Nani's wingplay with some good counter-attacking football, Portugal did manage to put some scares into Germany in the first half, despite some German domination. The only downside for Portugal was that (big shocker here) Cristiano Ronaldo simply did not perform well. He looked lost and never did so much as risk a pinky against the German defenders, including Mat Hummels, who did a good job of silencing the Real Madrid striker.
The second half kicked off, and the pattern remained the same with both sides testing each other. In the 72nd minute, Germany finally broke through and Gomez put Germany ahead 1-0.
And here's where Germany finally disappointed everyone. Most people watching were ready for Germany to then go on its usual pattern: The first goal is the hardest, now that the opponent is forced to go and acquire the next goal, Germany will use the counter-attack to score a second, and a third, and a fourth, and so on.
But something went wrong.
Portugal pushed forward and the Germans did everything they could to hold on. Sure, Miroslav Klose brought some danger to Portugal, and so did some others, but it was really down to Portugal's forwards. Even Cristiano Ronaldo looked dangerous at one point. Pepe wound up hitting the crossbar after the Gomez goal, and Varela missed a chance against German keeper Neuer that was harder to miss than it was to make.
The Germans took the win but they still need to improve in order to make a serious play for the Cup. Given everything they showed tonight against Portugal, however, it's obvious that growth and improvement is in their future.
As for Portugal, most of the match looked like more of the same so they may be in for a rough time against both Holland and Denmark if Ronaldo doesn't do anything to improve.
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