Germany's World Cup campaign begins with a tough encounter against Portugal on Monday, though they arrive in Brazil with confidence having won their last three encounters, not to mention every opening match of the tournament since 1990, Reuters reported. A standout first round game, the Group G clash at Salvador's Forte Nova arena will see Germany's attractive mix of expert defence and sweeping attacks, led by the likes of Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller, come up against a Portugal side containing goal machine Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal's talismanic forward raised a collective sigh of relief in his home country earlier this week when he returned to the side after a troublesome knee injury to shine in a 5-1 friendly victory over Ireland. -- SPA 20:41 LOCAL TIME 17:41 GMT تغريد
