By Andrew Downie
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Rampant Germany hammered Portugal 4-0, with four players sharing the goals, to progress to the semi-finals of the Rio Games football tournament on Saturday.
Striker Serge Gnabry scored the opener for the Germans with a lovely angled shot seconds before half time and Matthias Ginter added a second with a commanding header from a corner 12 minutes into the second half.
Davie Selke got a third in the 75th minute with a goal that was almost identical to the first, then substitute Philipp Max put the icing on the cake when he ended a sweeping move with a lovely finish into the top corner three minutes from time.
The result was payback for Portugal's 5-0 hammering of Germany in the semi-finals of the European under-21 championship last year.
Germany will face either Nigeria or Denmark, who were meeting later on Saturday, in their semi-final. South Korea take on Honduras while hosts and three-times runners-up Brazil play Colombia in later matches, also on Saturday.
The Olympic tournament is restricted to under-23 teams with three overage players allowed per side. Germany have never won it as a unified nation although communist East Germany won gold in 1976.
