BREAKING NEWS

Lviv, Group B

After a first half where Portugal were clearly content to allow their exciting opponents to attack in the hope of lofting one to Christiano Ronaldo on the break, the hope was that someone would break the deadlock in the second.

For the first fifteen minutes, Portugal showed more adventure and showed that this German team are not comfortable when they on the back foot and on the receiving end.

For along while though it appeared that this highly anticipated game between two European giants was never really going to live up to the billing, until Mario Gomez headed in a Muller cross in the seventy-second minute to put the Germans ahead and for a brief few minutes it appeared that the game had come alive.

Germany continued to press with Gomez failing to toe in another Muller cross two minutes later.

Portugal came within a whisker of scoring in the closing minutes, however they did not deserve to win this game, for they have played this style of football for too long now and it hasn’t really brought them accolades from their fans or any silverware either.

All that is of course a huge shame for the player fated as one of the best on the planet but who has still to prove himself on the international stage.

As for Germany they still excite, however their opponents will feel that they are beatable, something that seemed impossible during the World Cup when this young German side first exploded onto the scene.