Germany 1 Portugal 0

After the shock of Holland's defeat to Denmark earlier in the day, Germany and Portugal met at the Lviv Arena in Ukraine. Despite the vast array of talent on show the match proved to be a major disappointment with both sides struggling to impose themselves throughout.

It took Ronaldo fourteen minutes to get his first touch and the Real Madrid frontman can rarely have been as ineffectual. At the other end Ozil, so often the creator of Germany's goals, struggled to find the space needed to work his magic. The chances were few and far between with neither goalkeeper seriously troubled until the final minute of the first half. Incredibly it was Pepe, who took a break from trying to look out of position at the back, who struck a shot against the underside of Neuer's crossbar. As everyone braced themselves for yet another goal line debate, UEFA were relieved to see the ball land plum on the line and bounce clear.

Surely the second half couldn't be as bad as the first? Well, actually it could. In what quickly became the worst match of the tournament so far, chances remained at a premium until Mario Gomez rose to head home a deflected cross from Khedira eighteen minutes from time. In truth Gomez had looked as poor here as he had done in the Champions League Final last month but, when the chance came, he didn't disappoint placing his header beyond the outstretched hand of Rui Patricio.

The Germans survived a couple of late scares; firstly when Varela was denied by Neuer, then after Ronaldo broke free down the left and pulled it back for Nani, it was Badstuber who came to the rescue. With that, Portugal's chance had gone and Joachim Loew's men got their championship assault off to a winning start.

Will Germany go all the way this year?