World Cup Review Germany v. Portugal and Iran v. Nigeria

The fifth match day of the 2014 World Cup promised some exciting matches as the Group of Death finally got underway The day started as two of the best teams in the world, Portugal and Germany, faced off. The second game of the day featured a group F encounter between Iran and Nigeria.

Germany vs Portugal: Heading into the tournament, this match promised to be one of the most exciting of the group stage. However, it was German domination from the start as they went on to win 4-0. The game was wide open for the first 12 minutes as both teams had chances before Mario Götze was hauled down in the box and Thomas Müller converted the following penalty.

Portugal had some good chances through Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani but were unable to score and Germany made them pay. Mats Hummels doubled Germany's lead from a corner kick after 32 minutes

Pepe essentially sealed the deal just five minutes later when he got a straight red card for headbutting Müller.

Müller picked up his second goal as Bruno Alves failed to clear the ball and Müller slotted it home in first half stoppage time.

At that point, the second half was purely academic as Germany dominated possession against 10-man Portugal. Portugal may have a defensive crisis as Fábio Coentrão went off with what looked like a bad injury and his status for the rest of the World Cup is uncertain. After 78 minutes, another Portugal misplay gave Germany a 4-0 lead. Rui Patrício failed to clear a Germany cross and once again Müller  was the man on the spot as he secured his hat trick. 

Takeaways:

Man of the Match: Thomas Müller

Müller found himself in great position multiple times and took his chances well when he had them. Most of Germany's players excelled but Müller was the best, picking up the hat trick. Müller now has eight goals in seven career World Cup games.

Ronaldo looked dangerous for most of the match but he definitely looked hampered by his hamstring injury at times. He also looked to get frustrated with the lack of support that he got from his teammates. 

Portugal might be in trouble moving forward as they'll definitely be without Pepe in their next game and Fábio Coentrão could be missing as well. Portugal certainly seem to be looking at an uphill battle to get to the knockout round.

Iran vs. Nigeria: After 12 exciting matches, we got our first dud of the 2014 World Cup as Iran took on Nigeria. Iran sat back and tried to defend while Nigeria dominated the play but never looked fully confident in the final third. Jon Obi Mikel was the man of the match in a game that saw only 9 shots on goal, none of them particularly difficult to deal with. If nothing changes, both of these teams will have trouble dealing with Argentina and Bosnia in group F.