Lukas Podolski dedicated Germany’s defeat of Portugal at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador to Michael Schumacher, revealing that Germany’s players had been inspired in part by the news that the ex-Formula One champion had been discharged from hospital in Grenoble.

“He [Schumacher] is a good friend of mine and it is important to all of us to hear that news that he’s come out of hospital. He’s doing well and he’s getting better and it’s really good news,” Podolski said, shortly after Germany’s 4-0 victory in their opening match in group G.

“Of course it helped us. When you hear the news about a good friend it always helps and you get a little bit of a boost and I was very happy when I heard about the news.”

Schumacher is a close personal friend of Podolski, who wore a special pair of boots in the FA Cup final last month as a tribute to the driver. Asked if Germany would dedicate a World Cup victory to Schumacher the Arsenal striker said: “Yeah if we win the title of course it would also be for a good friend.”

The 45-year-old seven-time world champion has now been transferred to Lausanne university hospital in Switzerland, having recovered sufficiently from a severe head injury suffered in a skiing accident in the French Alps just after Christmas. “In the end [the victory] was for him [Schumacher],” Podolski said. “Because he’s a good friend a good guy and he’s also crazy about football. Maybe he watched the game or he knew about the result.”