Muller outguns Ronaldo as Germany rout Portugal

SALVADOR: Thomas Mueller scored a hat-trick as Germany thrashed Portugal 4-0 to leave Cristiano Ronaldo´s dreams of dominating the World Cup in tatters on Monday.

Bayern Munich star Mueller bagged the first treble of his international career as Germany shrugged off a troubled build-up to the tournament to make a flying start in Group G. But it was a disastrous afternoon at Salvador´s Fonte Nova Arena for Ronaldo and Portugal, who had defender Pepe sent off for a first half headbutt on Mueller.

Mueller opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 12 minutes before defender Mats Hummels doubled Germany´s advantage on the half-hour mark.

The 24-year-old centre forward struck again at the end of the first half before tapping home a close range effort on 78 minutes.

A wretched outing for Portugal was compounded by the sight of Real Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao being stretchered off in the second half. But the biggest concern will be the form of Ronaldo, who had hoped to sparkle at the World Cup after helping Real Madrid to the Champions League this season.

The 29-year-old winger, who was battling injuries before the tournament, had declared himself 100 percent fit on the eve of the match.

However the former Manchester United star looked way below his best, and a poorly scuffed free-kick summed up his afternoon of disappointment.

In Group G´s other game on Monday, 2010 quarter-finalists Ghana face the United States in Natal having knocked out the Americans in the last 16 four years ago.

African champions Nigeria, who have taken just two points from six matches in their last two appearances at the World Cup, face three-time Asian champions Iran in Curitiba in Group F. (AFP)

Elections 2014: Will 'Modi wave' rout NC rule in J&K?

Sushmita Dutta

The political scenario in Jammu and Kashmir has been volatile for quite a long time - issues like civil rights, alleged excesses by the Army, the issue of Article 370, Kashmiri Pandits and the separatists movement have kept the state on tenterhooks since early 1990s.

Although the National Conference is in alliance with the Congress and remains firmly with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the national level, Omar Abdullah has already made it clear that his party's support should be taken as granted.

Interestingly, Omar Abdullah’s uncle and General Secretary of the NC has hinted that if Modi becomes Prime Minister after next General Elections, NC would develop ‘harmonious’ relationship with him.

In other words, National Conference might be willing to support the BJP.

In 2009, the National Conference had won three seats (in Baramulla, Anantnag and Srinagar) whereas Congress had won two seats (in Udhampur and Jammu) and independent had won 1 seat in Ladakh.

The other important player is Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The party would be hoping to break into the NC-Congress vote bank in the valley.

The BJP on the other hand will hope for the Modi magic to work in the Jammu region.

The poll surveys are projecting 2 seats for BJP, 2 for PDP, 1 to National Conference and 1 to Congress. As many as 3.5 lakh first-time voters would exercise their right to franchise in the Lok Sabha polls in J&K which are scheduled to be held in five phases- April 10, 17, 24, 30 and May 07, 2014. The counting for the seats will be held on May 16, 2014.

Six parliamentary seats would go into polls in the five phases announced by the Election Commission. The six seats are Baramulla, Srinagar, Anantnag, Ladakh, Udhampur and Jammu.

Srinagar parliamentary seat is a matter of prestige for the National Conference. Omar Abdullah, the present CM of J&K, was Member of Parliament three times from Srinagar. After him this seat was won by his father Farooq Abdullah. National Conference is believed to have complete control over the Srinagar seat. Farooq Abdullah, who is a minister in the UPA government, has already said that he will continue to fight till he lives from this seat.

Jammu has been won by the Congress for eight times and currently holds the seat. Jammu is the largest among the six Lok Sabha constituencies with almost 1.8 lakh voters. The BJP has claimed the seat thrice and hopes to win this time riding on the NaMo wave.

Sitting MP Madan Lal Sharma of the Congress will be challenged by state BJP chief Jugal Kishore.

Congress heavyweight Ghulam Nabi Azad might take up the fight from the Udhampur seat.