German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s presence at the World Cup stadium in Salvador, Brazil was a great morale booster for the German national team, which won 4-0 against Portugal on Monday.

The chancellor was flashed on television numerous times from her VIP seat, standing, sitting and enthusiastically clapping every time her team scored a goal. After the game, the chancellor even visited the sweaty, semi-naked German team in their locker room to pose for photos and personally congratulate the team.

Merkel at the VIP area

German team manager Joachim Löw commented ‘She gave a little speech to say how nice it was that we won, especially after such a long trip here. There was a lot of applause. We always like it when she comes to see us, she is always a nice guest to have.’

The personal visit also allowed team forward Lukas Podolski to deliver on his promise to take a dressing room selfie with the chancellor. He tweeted: ‘4-0 win, awesome start! And here the promised Selfie with the chancellor.’

Meanwhile, man of the hour Thomas Müller downplayed his hat-trick and reminded fans that ‘this was just the first match. We just want to be world champions and if we do that, records may or may not come, but we have other things to focus on.’

After scoring 3 goals in the opener, many fans have already speculated the possibility of Müller beating teammate and veteran Miroslav Klose’s 14 World Cup goals and even ex-Brazil star Ronaldo’s all-time record of 15 World Cup goals.

Since debuting in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Müller has scored 6 World Cup goals.

Thomas Müller stuns Portugal with 3 goals in one game

Germany faces Ghana next on 21 June. Müller commented ‘It was a good start, but we need to focus on the next match now — there are no gifts in football.

‘I am known for giving my utmost, but no one could have assumed that [hat-trick] would happen and I can’t say that will happen again in the next match, but I’ll certainly try.’