Germany v Portugal might be the best game we see in the group stages, especially when you consider the one-sidedness of the Spain v Holland game, although if Cristiano isn’t fully fit then Portugal might not be the threat their fans would want given that Germany have both Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer back after knocks. If the Bayern pair contribute to a convincing win for their nation a fair few pundits will rush to install them as favourites overall after the Spanish humiliation and Brazil struggling, so this game is worth catching.




Germany’s Miroslav Klose appeared in his 132nd match for the national team on June 6. The game, which was Germany’s final friendly prior to heading to Brazil, was a 6-1 shellacking of Armenia. Klose became Germany’s all time leading scorer after netting his 69th goal in the friendly. Klose was born in Poland and lived in France until moving to Germany when the future soccer star was 8-years old. During the 2014 tournament, the now 36-year old has the chance to become the all-time top scorer in the World Cup. Klose is sitting at 14 goals and will have the opportunity to pass Brazil’s Ronaldo, who set the record with 15 goals over his career. It is expected that Klose will start in Germany’s first game against Portugal on Monday.






Everyone will be watching Ronaldo for Portugal, questioning if a limp or lack of scoring is due to the star’s nagging injury to his left leg. The Portugal team needs Ronaldo to escape the group of death and have a chance at winning the World Cup. However, facing Germany to open up tournament play, defense is going to play a important role for Portugal and fans should keep a close eye on goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Patricio will have a huge responsibility during the tournament. If Ronaldo has to leave the game early, the keeper will need to step up big to keep the opponents from equalizing games or taking a lead. Expect the keeper to put on a show to keep Portugal’s chances alive.