World Cup: Muller inspires Germany to victory but Nigeria and Iran in stalemate

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo stands on the pitch as German players celebrate following Portugal's 4-0 loss to Germany.

The Bayern Munich midfielder got Germany on their way to a 4-0 opening Group G fixture win with a penalty, and he said afterwards he did not feel the nerves at all as he stepped up to the spot.

“I’ve been involved in the last three major tournaments so I’m used to the pressure,” he said. “But to score three goals in one game - that’s pretty amazing, and the goals just got better and better.

“It’s fantastic, but the merit also goes to the rest of the team.”

Muller was nevertheless the absolute protagonist of a game which also saw his tangle with Portugal’s Pepe lead to the Real Madrid defender receiving a red card with the game still not fully decided at 2-0 in Germany’s favour.

“I just felt a blow from his fist, but I can’t really remember much of what happened after,” said Muller, who confronted his assailant verbally, but not physically to ensure his own name did not end up in the referee’s book.

The name of Cristiano Ronaldo was not scribbled in there, though, with the man expected to make the difference for the nation ranked fourth in the world against the one two places higher unable to get his name in the goalscorer’s column.

Jerome Boateng, tasked with dealing with the Ballon d’Or winner, was delighted to come out on top of that personal battle, although he, like Muller, emphasised the triumph of the collective.

“We gave them hardly any room and we put them under a lot of pressure,” he told Germany’s ARD television.

“It was a great team performance. Cristiano Ronaldo never even had a chance really.”

For Portugal, it is now back to the drawing board ahead of their remaining two group games against USA and Ghana with coach Paulo Bento admitting he has a lot to work on.

“We’re going to have to analyse this game in depth,” he said. “Of course we’re very disappointed.

“We tried a few things in the second half, but the game was already lost by then. There was nothing more we could have done.

“Apart from the first five minutes, we were just not in the game.”

Nigeria’s attacking threat fell flat as they were held to the first goalless draw of the 2014 World Cup in their Group F clash with Iran in Curitiba.

Stephen Keshi’s men started with Barclays Premier League stars including John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses but produced a performance riddled with errors and few clear-cut chances.

The Iranians, starting their fourth World Cup as one of the least fancied of all the finalists, arguably had the best chance when Reza Ghoochannejhad brought a fine save out of Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama in the 33rd minute.

Until that point the Africans had dominated possession but were hampered by a woeful final ball which kept their clear-cut chances to a minimum.

Moses had Nigeria’s first chance in the third minute when he hit a poor shot at inexperienced Iranian keeper Reza Haghighi.

Haghighi looked uncomfortable when pressured by the Nigerian front men and was lucky to escape in the seventh minute after flapping at a corner.

The ball dropped to Kenneth Omeruo who poked the ball in the net but the referee had already blown for a foul on the keeper by Mikel.

Emmanuel Emenike was having some success down the Nigerian left with Iranian right-back Pejhman Montazeri struggling to contain the speed of the Fenerbahce striker.

Ahmed Musa tried to cut a clever free-kick inside Haghighi’s left-hand post from a long-range free-kick in the 31st minute but the Nigerians’ lack of cutting edge began to instill the Iranians with confidence.

And their big chance came in the 33rd minute when Ghoochannejhad met an Ashkan Dejagah corner with a header which brought an excellent reflect save out of Enyeama.

Iran continued to grow in confidence early in the second half when Ghoochannejhad screwed a long-range shot wide of target.

But it had developed into a largely dismal affair with neither side looking capable of challenging Group F rivals Argentina or Bosnia.

Former Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi replaced Moses after 52 minutes and immediately came close to connecting with a cross from the left by Aziz.

And after Ogenyi Onazi drilled a low shot straight at Haghighi, the Nigerians came close to grabbing a scarcely deserved victory in the final minute.

Ameobi met a Juwon Oshaniwa cross with an effort which was superbly intercepted by Mehrdad Poolani, then the same player blocked an Ameobi header before the final whistle was greeted by a chorus of boos.