Back in 2014, Germany sent out a real statement of intent to their World Cup rivals by recording an emphatic 4-0 victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Salvador.Goals from Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels put Joachim Low’s side 2-0 up after 32 minutes, while Pepe ruined his side’s chances of a comeback by picking up an idiotic red card five minutes later.Muller then made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time before completing his hat-trick with just over 10 minutes of the match remaining."I've been involved in the last three major tournaments so I'm used to the pressure,” hat-trick hero Muller was quoted as saying by BBC Sport after the match. "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.”On his involvement in Pepe’s red card, the Bayern Munich star added: "I just felt a blow from Pepe's fist, but I can't really remember much of what happened after."
One moment summed up Ronaldo's afternoon
Ronaldo, meanwhile, was virtually anonymous. But because Portugal were down to 10 men for so long - and they were up against the World Cup favourites - he rightfully avoided heavy criticism for Portugal’s exit.
However, there was one moment in the match that summed up Ronaldo’s afternoon and, indeed, his tournament in general.
The Real Madrid forward had an opportunity to test Manuel Neuer with a free-kick, positioned around 35 yards from goal, and obviously he fancied his chances.
Germany, though, didn’t seem particularly concerned. They deployed a one-man wall comprised of the game’s shortest player: 5ft 7in Philipp Lahm.
But you can guess what happened next.
Yep, Ronaldo - despite having a huge gap to aim at - proceeded to hit Lahm’s legs with a surprisingly pathetic attempt.
Watch it here...
This has to go down as the worst free-kick of Ronaldo’s career. Lahm looked genuinely surprised as the ball hit him.
How Twitter reacted
And here’s how Twitter reacted at the time…