Euro 2012 Group B—Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine.
GERMANY 0-0 PORTUGAL (Half time)
Lineups
Germany: Neuer; Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm; Khedira, Schweinsteiger; Muller, Ozil, Podolski; Gomez
Portugal: Rui Patrício; Joao Pereira, Alves, Pepe, Coentrao; Veloso, Moutinho, Meireles; Nani, Postiga, Ronaldo
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Well it was a tactical affair in the first half for sure, with both sides concentrating first and foremost on not conceding soft opportunities rather than creating goalscoring ones.
Pepe's effort there at the end of the first half was as close as either team have come to a goal, but it clearly bounced on the line and not beyond.
HALF TIME IN LVIV
Germany 0 Portugal 0
44'—PEPE HITS THE BAR!! Portugal win a corner and it breaks to Pepe in the box who controls the ball and thumps it goalwards, striking the underside of the crossbar and watching on in hope and horror as it bounces down, onto the line, and out to safety.
44'—Now the German fans aren't happy because the stadium announcer is threatening to abandon the game if they continue throwing their paper cups onto the pitch!
41'—Podolski suddenly turns on the afterburners down the left and tries to cross, but Meireles blocks the attempt.
Up the other end on the counter attack, Nani is clipped on the heels by Holger Badstuber who is booked for his troubles, but the German fans are furious with the decision as Nani ran on another ten yards before collapsing dramatically to the floor.
The set piece delivery is woeful and Neuer takes it easily.
41'—Joao Moutinho scurries forward with the ball at his feet as Portugal look to fashion a rare opening, but in the end his shot from 30 yards is speculative at best and rather wasteful at worst. Goal kick.
39'—Much more dangerous from Germany. Pinball crossing in the box sees Muller cross from the right, Podolski drive it back from the opposite flank and then Muller divert the ball well wide as it came back to him.
38'—Well, Germany perhaps need a bit of extra inspiration. Toni Kroos, Marco Reus and Mario Goetze might all provide plenty of skill and creativity in that attacking trio behind Gomez in the second half.
There is also the small matter of 63-goal national hero Miroslav Klose on the bench.
37'—Sami Khedira shoots. Unsurprisingly, given he has scored just once in almost 30 games for Germany, he does not find the target.
Joern Pollex/Getty Images 35'—Gomez bursts into the box with a sudden and unexpected turn of pace, but Pepe gets his considerable frame between player and ball and lets Gomez bundle him to the ground. Free kick Portugal, ten minutes to go until half time.
32'—Just for a moment it looks like the game might open up for Portugal as Moutinho feeds Ronaldo down the left channel, but Boateng quickly got across to close him down.
30'—BIG CHANCE, POOR SHOT. Podolski finds himself in space, dead centre of the penalty area, but he leans back as he tries a first time shot and skies his effort miles over the bar. A disappointing finish from the soon-to-be Arsenal forward.
29'—Joao Pereira whips a good cross in from the right hand side, but Mats Hummels stands firm to head the ball away. Three in the box then for Portugal, too.
28'—No real chances as yet for either side. Both teams probing but looking fairly solid in defence. Maybe a 40 yard drive into the top corner is asked for? Meireles, Schweinsteiger, fancy it?
25'—Ah, there's Nani. He feeds Ronaldo who cuts in on his right foot to shoot—but his effort is blocked at close quarters.
24'—Podolski eventually drills the free kick—but straight into the onrushing wall. We haven't really seen a good free kick yet in Euro 2012.
23'—GERMANY HAVE THE BALL IN THE NET—BUT THE WHISTLE HAD GONE! The referee had already blown his whistle some time beforehand for a Germany free kick, but maybe they would have preferred to continue? Mario Gomez spins and shoots, and the ball ends up in the net but there's no effort from the goalkeeper to stop it.
19'—Now the Germans do try to build up with more care. They enjoy an extended spell on the ball, but too little movement—not a common sight in this German team usually—means they cannot open up the Portugal defence.
18'—Is Nani even playing? We've seen nothing of him in this opening almost-20-minutes.
17'—Ronaldo gets his first chance to attack the German defence and does well to drill a low cross over the six yard box, but nobody in red can quite get anything on the ball.
Joern Pollex/Getty Images 15'—Sloppy passing from Germany almost puts themselves under pressure, and in the end Neuer can only knock the ball out of play for a throw in.
Both teams are attacking at pace, but too fast to build any real great openings.
12'—YELLOW CARD! Helder Postiga is shown the first yellow card of the game as he slid in late on Manuel Neuer, who came out of his box to clear the ball.
A little dramatic, but certainly a foul.
10'—Mesut Ozil almost thinks he's in as he exchanges passes with Podolski inside the box, but in the end Portugal get players back and crowd him out.
The largely-German crowd here are extremely vociferous in their support and grow more raucous every time their side approach the Portuguese penalty box.
9'—PODOLSKI SHOOTS! A moment of excitement for the Germans as they pull the ball back from the right side, behind Gomez who was running through the centre—but Lukas Podolski is running onto the ball from the left edge of the box and he drills it low and hard, first time. Rui Patricio makes the save at the second attempt.
6'—Germany build constantly through the centre with Bastian Schweinsteiger always free to receive possession.
Thomas Muller chops down Fabio Coentrao as Portugal try to counter and the French referee signals a free kick.
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