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WORLD CUP 2014

FOOTBALL

Germany seek to keep stranglehold on Portugal

Germany kick-off their World Cup campaign on Monday aiming to continue their domination of Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal at recent major tournaments.

Germany seek to keep stranglehold on Portugal
Schweinsteiger and Ronaldo in the Euro 2012 tournament. Photo: DPA

The Germans enjoyed wins over Portugal at the 2006 World Cup, plus both of the last two European championships and want to get their Group G campaign off to a flying start with a fourth consecutive win.   

The Salvador clash is a re-run of Portugal's Euro 2012 opener against Germany, when they went down 1-0 to a second-half Mario Gomez goal.
   
The pre-match build-up in Salvador has focused on whether or not Ronaldo will be fit to play at the Arena Fonte Nova after a knee and thigh injury.
   
The 29-year-old took a full part in Portugal's training session on Saturday with team-mates William Carvalho and goalkeeper Eduardo both saying he will play.
   
Eduardo insists the Portugal squad are highly motivated to erase memories of a "disastrous" 2010 campaign which ended in the last 16 at the hands of eventual winners Spain.
   
But all eyes have been on the world player of the year's recovery, despite Ronaldo's return to play 65 minutes of Portugal's final warm-up in their 5-1 drubbing of Ireland.
   
The Real Madrid forward, whose form and fitness will be vital to Portugal's chances, has had a heavy strapping on his knee in training.
   
Germany vs Ronaldo
 
But as Germany defender Benedikt Höwedes pointed out: "This isn't Germany against Ronaldo, but Germany against Portugal".
   
Germany midfielder Sami Khedira claims his Real Madrid team-mate has told him this is Portugal's time to break their German bogey.
   
Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski says the Germans respect dead-ball specialist Ronaldo, but there is no fear.
   
"We have prepared ourselves to play Portugal and not just one player," said Podolski, who is set to win his 115th cap.
   
"He is certainly extremely dangerous and can decide games, but we also have players capable of doing that. If we produce a good performance, then it doesn't matter what he does."
   
The million-dollar question is whether Germany can recreate their standard from four years ago when they finished third after hammering Argentina and England en route.
   
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is set to play, but has laboured with injury to his right shoulder while vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is struggling for fitness after tendinitis of the knee.
   
His defensive midfield partner Khedira has spent most of the season on the bench at Real Madrid after a serious knee injury.
   
Coach Joachim Löw only has one striker in his squad with 36-year-old Miroslav Klose just one short of equalling Ronaldo's all-time record of 15 goals at World Cup finals.
   
Arsenal's attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil is set to be pushed up front as a 'False Nine' with Bayern Munich's Toni Kroos taking over in central midfield.
  
One factor which could play into the hands of Paulo Bento's fleet-footed Portuguese is Löw's decision to move captain Philipp Lahm from right-back into midfield.
   
Löw is set to play four centre-backs with Mats Hummels partnering Per Mertesacker with Jerome Boateng and Höwedes used as wing-backs.
 
Germany has won nine of the 17 meetings between the countries, with five games ending in draws and Portugal emerging victorious in three.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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