Mueller has a nose for the goal

German striker showcases his talent with stylish hat-trick against Portugal

Germany's Thomas Mueller picked up where he left off at the last World Cup by claiming the first hat-trick of this year's tournament in Monday's 4-0 rout of Portugal.

Mueller's haul overshadowed World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, who suffered his fourth straight defeat against Germany in the key Group G clash.

The 24-year-old Mueller made his breakthrough at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when he finished tied for the lead in goals with with five and won the Golden Boot.

On Monday he converted a first-half penalty against Portugal, then fired home his second to give Germany a 3-0 lead at the break before wrapping up his hat-trick with a scrappy third in the closing stages.

"That doesn't happen every day, but I have had a good run at World Cups and I wanted to pick up where I left off," he said after picking up the man of the match award.

"I am known for giving my utmost, but no one could have assumed that would happen and I can't say it will happen again in the next match ... but I'll certainly try."

Normally a winger or attacking midfielder for Bayern Munich, Mueller was given a rare start as striker, keeping veteran Miroslav Klose, 36, on the bench.

With eight World Cup goals now to his credit, Mueller is rapidly approaching Klose's German record of 14 World Cup goals, shared with 1970s legend Gerd Mueller.

But when asked if he wanted to claim ex-Brazil star Ronaldo's all-time record of 15 goals at World Cup finals, Mueller he said winning the World Cup is his top priority.

"Let's remain objective here, this was just the first match," he said. "We just want to be world champions and if we do that, records may or may not come, but we have other things to focus on."

After the Netherlands' 5-1 hammering of holder Spain on Friday, the Germans threw down another strong World Cup marker at the same Arena Forte Nova stadium.

"We made a good start and the entire 90 minutes went well for us, we took our chances well," said Mueller.

"The second was a set-piece goal which gave us a comfortable margin and even though the match wasn't over, we knew Portugal had an uphill struggle."

Mueller was involved in a first-half fracas with Portugal centerback Pepe, which saw the Real Madrid defender sent off for head-butting.

"Things went fast on the pitch, his arm struck me in the face and I'm not sure what happened after that," said Mueller.

"I remember his head coming towards me, but things were vague after that. I didn't want to provoke it, but anyway, his actions were superfluous."

Mueller said he felt Pepe's fist strike his head as both players tried to head a ball and the big German went crashing to the ground.

Pepe, angry at what he thought was Mueller's exaggerated fall, went over to Mueller on the ground and pushed his head into the German's.

Mueller jumped on his feet and the two shouted at each other for a tense moment before being separated. Pepe was sent off.

"I'd like to see it in TV," Mueller said. "I felt a blow from his fist, but what happened after that I can't really remember, whether we were head-to-head or not. I just hope it didn't look stupid on TV."

The Bayern Munich striker has now scored 20 goals for Germany in 50 matches.

(China Daily 06/18/2014 page24)