Brazil and Germany continue to intensely battle each other for qualification to the World Cup final in the Estadio do Maracana, but there's another intense battle-albeit an individual one-that took another turn on Tuesday.
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An opening goal from Germany's Thomas Muller didn't just gift his team an early 1-0 lead, it moved him one step closer to retaining the World Cup Golden Boot. The current leader, James Rodriguez, exited the tournament in the quarterfinals with a staggering six goals. Muller now sits just one behind him with five. Should his team hold on to the lead, he'll have an additional match to become the tournament's most prolific goalscorer.
Just don't expect him to worry about it.
In the group stages, Muller was asked about the possibilities of winning the award in back-to-back tournaments. His answer was one filled with championship pedigree. "We [Germany] 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," he said (via FIFA). "A hat-trick at the World Cup doesn't happen every day of course, but I have had a good run at World Cups and I wanted to pick up where I left off."
"I am known for giving my utmost," Muller added. "But no one could have assumed that would happen and I can't say that will happen again in the next match, but I'll certainly try."
The possibility for Muller to capture both the Golden Boot and the coveted World Cup trophy, however, still exists.
Continue following our World Cup coverage for any potential updates.
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