After Rodrigo Moreno put Spain ahead after just six minutes, Germany went into the break level after Mueller hit his 38th goal for the national team on his 90th international appearance.

The draw in front of a sold-out 50,653 crowd preserves both sides’ respective unbeaten runs dating back to Euro 2016.

Spain, who host Argentina on Tuesday in Madrid, are now 17 games unbeaten while Germany’s run is 22 without defeat as they prepare to play Brazil in Berlin on Tuesday.

Spain coach Julen Lopetegui included three veterans who won the 2010 World Cup final in Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta.

At 33, Iniesta gave the Germany midfield a masterclass during the first 45 minutes he played, moving the ball at ease with silky passes at the heart of Spain’s attack.

Germany boss Joachim Loew started with six World Cup winners from 2014 in Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Mueller and Mesut Ozil.

Germany were punished for living dangerously as Spain dominated the early exchanges.

Hummels was at fault for the opening goal, leaving too much space for Iniesta to tuck the ball behind the German defence.

Moreno snapped up his chance to beat Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen on six minutes.

It should have been 2-0 to Spain on 18 minutes when Isco’s pass to Silva was just a fraction too forward and Ter Stegen had enough time to smoother the attack.

It took a superb piece of skill for Germany to draw level on 35 minutes.

Mueller spotted Spain goalkeeper David de Gea off his line and unleashed a superb strike which hit the top left-hand corner from 20 metres out.

At half-time, Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez came on for Iniesta in the Spanish midfield.

Right at the start of the second half, Germany winger Julian Draxler came within a whisker of putting the hosts ahead.

His fierce shot from outside the area was pushed around the post by De Gea’s fantastic save.

Ozil then failed to connect after being put in a great position by Timo Werner.

A knock to Sami Khedira saw Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan came into Germany’s midfield and the game opened up approaching the hour mark.

Only a great Ter Stegen save denied Isco, but the Germans counter-attacked immediately and De Gea had to palm away a shot by Gundogan.

Hummels hit the crossbar on 65 minutes with a header after Toni Kroos floated a free-kick over Spain’s wall.

Both sides had late chances to steal the win, but a flurry of changes by both coaches meant the game’s tempo dropped for the final quarter of an hour.

It was another setback for the Serbian star as he bids to return from the elbow injury that sidelined him for six months and finally saw him have “minor” surgical intervention after a disappointing Australian Open.

“I’m trying, but it’s not working,” Djokovic said. “That’s all it is. I mean, obviously I’m not feeling great when I’m playing this way. Of course I want to be able to play as well as I want to play. Just, it’s impossible at the moment. That’s all.”

Paire broke Djokovic at love to seal the win, Djokovic dumping a backhand into the net on the Frenchman’s first match point.

Paire broke Djokovic in the seventh game of the opening set — part of a run of five straight games that saw him take a 6-3, 1-0 lead.

“I felt I started the match well, first six games,” Djokovic said. “Then I just ran out of gas. He was serving well. I just wasn’t able to break him down. He was just coming up with the good shots at the right time. It happened very fast.”

Djokovic, the former world number one now ranked 12th in the world, dug deep to escape a 0-40 hole and hold serve in the second game of the second set before Paire broke him for a 4-2 lead.

Djokovic responded with his first break of the match to put the set back on serve, but simply had no answer in the final game.

Djokovic had also lost his opening match at the Indian Wells Masters last week. But he was encouraged in Miami this week to find himself playing without pain for the first time “in years”.

He said a lack of match fitness was “one of the things” preventing him from gaining any steam in his bid to return to his top form.

But he said that in attempting to play through injury for so long, “I compromised my game and the movement and everything … I’m trying to figure things out.

“I wanted to come to Indian Wells and Miami because I wanted to see whether I can play a match,” he said. “I love playing on the hard court. I wanted to get a couple of tournaments before the clay court season starts.

“I obviously wasn’t ready for that.”

Although he had planned for the two Stateside hardcourt tournaments to be a precursor to a full clay court season, Djokovic sounded unsure after the defeat.

“That was the plan,” he said when asked if he felt ready to head into the Monte Carlo Masters Aril 14-22. “But let’s see what happens.”

Milovan Rajevac’s side put on a great show to win a thrilling penalty shootout 4-2 against Gabon in Thursday’s opening game in front of 25,000 spectators.

That win alone has already earned them a Bt5 million bonus from the Football Association of Thailand and a further Bt5 million will go their way if they prevail over the European visitors on Sunday.

The Kingdom’s players have shown impressive progress under the guidance of their Serbian coach.

They employed the type of high-pressing game currently in vogue in Europe, had a great deal of possession and generated more scoring opportunities against a Gabon side featuring several players from European clubs.

The visitors were, however, significantly weaker for the absence of Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who failed to make the trip to Thailand following the death of his grandmother.

The Panthers were also missing defender Bruno Ecuele Manga and winger Denis Bouanga, who opted to stay and continue training with their clubs, respectively Championship side Cardiff City and FC Lorient of French Ligue 2.

Milovan Rajevac and Somyot Poompanmoung 

Nevertheless, Thai Football Association of Thailand (FAT) chief Somyot Poompanmoung was full of praise for the “War Elephants”.

“I’ve seen a tremendous change in the team. They showed determination and made a great effort. They even played better than Gabon in my view,” said Somyot, who also praised the fab four of Kawin Thammasatchanan of OH Leuven, Chanathip Songkrasin of Consadole Sapporo , Teerasil Dangda of Sanfrecce Hirsoshima and Teeranthon Bunmathan of Vissel Kobe for applying what they had learned in overseas leagues for the benefit of the national team.

“Part of the big improvement is because the four men playing internationally. From my point of view we should have won in the normal time,” Somyot said.

The Football Association of Thailand president is confident his team will complete the King’s Cup hat-trick tomorrow and is hoping for a big turn-out tomorrow.

It is a tall order though – their opponents Slovakia are world-ranked 29 and also impressed in beating the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in Thursday’s opening game.

“Perhaps not many fans showed up on Thursday because of the heavy traffic in the Ramkamhaeng area. I believe that if more fans come and support the team on Sunday, the team will be even more inspired to win. I promise they will be rewarded with another Bt5 million if they retain the title,” said Somyot.

Rajevac, who guided Ghana to the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa, could also be pleased with his own  contribution – his decision to get his players to practice penalties in training was wholly vindicated.

He wanted his defenders to get a mention too, saying he, was equally happy that Gabon failed to score.

Tomorrow promises to be an even more daunting task, though – Slovakia have lost just three times in their last nine matches  and also beat Thailand in the 2004 final … via a penalty shoot-out.

“They are a very strong European team,” coach Rajevac said of the Slovaks. “They are full of good players and it will be hard work for us.”

Gabon will play the United Arab Emirates for third place on Sunday (4.30pm) before Thailand meet Slovakia in the final (7.30pm). If you can’t get to the game it will also be shown live on Thai Rath TV32.

Hamilton lowered his opening practice best time of one minute 24.026 seconds with 1:23.931 in the second session to hold a 0.127sec gap over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1:24.058).

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas (1:24.159) was third in Melbourne in the first exchanges of the new Formula One season.

The Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel were fourth and fifth respectively and between 0.3-0.5secs down on Hamilton’s time ahead of Saturday’s qualifying.

Australia’s big hope Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was seventh fastest in 1:24.721.

“Coming to the first race you have no idea what it’s going to be like, but we started on the right foot today,” Hamilton said.

“The gap closed up a little bit between all the cars, but that’s exciting anyway.

“It’s more challenging for me to eke out more from the car, discover whether I have lost something or they have all gained, but I enjoyed driving.

“We’re going to get quicker and quicker through the weekend, that is if it doesn’t rain tomorrow.”

– ‘It looks to be close’ –

Hamilton’s long-run pace looked superior on the ultrasoft tyres, reeling off a steady run of 1:28s, but race pace simulations showed little between the three leading teams.

Red Bull managed to lap in the high 1:28s with Ferrari in the low 1:29s.

Verstappen and Bottas both used soft tyres for the final few minutes of the second practice session, while Raikkonen was on the supersoft for Ferrari.

“For me this has been a positive start to the weekend so I am really happy about that,” Verstappen said.

“The car has behaved well on this track which is always pleasing after only running in Barcelona to date. It is still hard to see who is strongest and how we will finish come race day.”

Hamilton is gunning for his fifth world title, an achievement which would match the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and leave him just two adrift of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.

Bottas and Raikkonen faced the stewards after the second session to explain a coming-together, when Bottas had to take to the gravel to avoid running into the Ferrari.

“We tried to chase the balance a bit because I did not feel that comfortable,” said Ferrari’s Vettel.

“We still have quite a lot of performance in hand — I am not too worried because I know if I get everything right we should be in better shape.

“It looks to be close, which is good news, so we should be able to do something tomorrow.”

The surprise of the opening day was the performance of the Haas team to challenge for the fourth-fastest team on the back of two strong showings from Romain Grosjean.

The second session was halted briefly after a cable was ripped up from underneath the start/finish line, and resumed after officials cut loose the wire.

A fired-up Fernando Alonso yelled down the McLaren team radio: “Maybe because of the halo the people stop looking into their mirrors!” after a close shave with some of his rivals early in the session.

The halo, a safety bar above the cockpit to protect drivers, is a new innovation this season.

The two-time Grand Slam champion said International Tennis Federation (ITF) president David Haggerty should resign if the plan fails to receive a two-thirds majority at the organisation’s general meeting in August.

The ITF last month unveiled plans for a 25-year, US$3 billion partnership with investment group Kosmos, founded by Barcelona football star Gerard Pique, to revamp the current format.

It would see the Davis Cup reduced to a season-ending World Cup of Tennis Finals featuring 18 nations.

Currently, it is structured around a 16-nation World Group, contested over four weekends during the year. The remaining countries are then divided into three regional zones.

“There are a lot of people who are frustrated by it and see this as a money-grab. It is a money deal,” Hewitt, his country’s most successful Davis Cup player, told The Australian newspaper Friday.

“It is all about money, not representing your country. It makes absolutely no sense.”

He vowed to do all he could to safeguard the competition, making clear he was “totally against” the changes.

“The (proposed) competition is not the Davis Cup. You can’t call this the Davis Cup,” he said.

“You can ask anyone for the past 50 years who has played the Davis Cup and (this proposal) is not what it is about, nor what it should be about.”

The ITF is hoping the potential change will improve the appeal of the Davis Cup, which is often missing leading players, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, because of scheduling concerns.

The investment will see significant increases in prize money to lure the sport’s top stars, and provide more funding for grassroots tennis projects.

Each tie in the new event would consist of two singles and one doubles match over best-of-three sets, as opposed to the current four singles and one doubles match, each played over five sets.

Hewitt told the newspaper he was stunned not to be informed of the ITF’s plans before the proposal was made public, and said Haggerty must go if the plan was rejected at the August meeting in Orlando.

“To me, I think Haggerty should lose his job if this does not go in his favour,” he said.

“I don’t think he can sit there and have those changes knocked back. I am quite strong on the whole thing. Tennis Australia is fighting against this.”

In the final tuneup before next week’s first major championship of the LPGA season at Rancho Mirage, Park and Hedwall opened with bogey-free rounds at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.

“It was just a solid day,” Hedwall said. “I hit it really well and started making a couple putts in my back nine. Just I’m really happy with how I’m playing and looking forward to the rest of the days.”

Hedwall began on the back nine and birdied six of her last 10 holes to join the lead pack. She birdied 18, followed with birdies at the second and third holes, birdied the par-5 fifth and eighth holes and closed with a birdie at the ninth.

Hedwall is winless in 125 LPGA events, her eight titles worldwide including five in Europe and three in Australia, including her most recent at the 2013 Women’s New South Wales Open.

“I feel like my game is really solid. It’s just my putting that I’ve actually been struggling with the past couple years,” Hedwall said.

“It’s just all about trust and having self-confidence. I feel like I’ve gained that now. I had good practice sessions the last couple days, and it’s starting to pay off. That’s really nice.”

Park, whose most recent of two LPGA crowns was the 2013 Manulife LPGA Classic, began on the 10th tee as well but saved her best for last, closing with three consecutive birdies in a late-afternoon run.

“The greens are really soft, so easier to play more with the second shot,” Park said. “I tried to leave the uphill putts, so kind of worked well.”

Stoelting, seeking her first LPGA title, took a bogey at the par-3 third but responded by making birdies on six of the next nine holes then another to conclude her round.

“I hit a lot of fairways. I don’t necessarily hit it far, but keeping it in the fairway is super-key this week,” Stoelting said.

“The greens are so big that I really tried to narrow my focus. They were soft, so I was able to fire at pins. Just a really good day.”

American Cristie Kerr, South Korean Kim In-kyung, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn and Dane Nicole Broch Larsen shared fourth on 67, one stroke ahead of New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, American Jennifer Song and South Koreans Ryu So-yeon and Lee Jeong-eun.

After a comfortable opening day win over Chez Reavie, Kiradech produced late birdies on 17 and 18 to turn the tables on Bradley at the Austin Country Club in the Group 3 match.

The former Asian Tour No. 1, who won the 2015 Paul Lawrie Match Play and last month’s ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth which featured a match play format on the last day, needs a win or a half in his last group match against world No. 3 Jon Rahm on Friday to move into knock-out phase for the first time in his career.

South Korea’s Siwoo Kim, the reigning THE PLAYERS Championship winner, cruised to a 5 & 3 win over Gary Woodlands to keep alive his hopes of progressing into the next round. Kim, who halved his opening match with Pat Perez, faces Webb Simpson on Friday where the winner will advance from Group 15.

The other Asians in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play suffered losses on day two. World No. 6 Hideki Matsuyama fell to Australian Cameron Smith 1-up, India’s Shubhankar Sharma lost to Xander Schauffele 3 & 1, Satoshi Kodaira of Japan lost 1-up to Phil Mickelson, Yuta Ikeda lost 1-up to Matt Kuchar and China’s Haotong Li was defeated by Jordan Spieth 4 & 2. Only Ikeda and Matsuyama have a chance to progress into the next round depending on the outcomes of Friday’s matches.

Kiradech’s showdown with Bradley, a three-time PGA TOUR winner, was a close affair with the Thai holding a 1-up lead at the turn. The lead switched hands on 16 when Bradley made birdie but Kiradech fought back with birdies from six feet and 13 feet over the last two holes to seal a hard-fought win.

“I’m really proud with the way I putted on the last hole. I tried to control myself, (keep) calm, and play shot by shot all day. First time I get 1-down on 16 but it was nice the last two holes,” said a delighted Kiradech, who made seven birdies during his match.

“It means a lot. I have been playing good golf. I’m really comfortable with the swing for a couple of months now. Then match play really suit my game. So I think, just keep playing my own game, pay attention, keep calm.”

Kiradech, who finished tied fifth at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship earlier this month, still have to take care of business on Friday against Rahm, who is already out of the running after losing to Reavie in the other group match on Thursday. “It’s still about tomorrow. If I win tomorrow, I will win the group,” said the Thai.

A strong showing in Austin could also enhance Kiradech’s dream of earning playing rights on the PGA TOUR. “The next one (goal) would be PGA TOUR card, which is one of the goals for everyone in the world. Especially from a little country in Asia like Thailand, to have a card over here will be fantastic,” he said.

South Korea’s Kim, playing in his second WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, made five birdies on a bogey-free card to see off Woodlands and faces a do-or-die match against Simpson, who beat Pat Perez, in his attempt to progress into the next phase of competition.

Thailand generated more scoring opportunities but failed  to deliver their attempts home in front of more than 25,000 fans.

However the Milovan  Rajevac’s side proved more effective in the shoot-out. Goalkeeper Kawin Thamasatchanan denied the first two kicks from Gabon to give the home team in the driver’s seat at the start of the duel and the momentum remained with the home team ever since.

Thailand will go for the fourth consecutive title as they take on the Slovak Republic, the 2-1 winner over UAE on Sunday.

In Thomas Cup, Thailand were put in the same group with Indonesia, South Korea and Canada. For Uber Cup, Thailand were placed alongside Taiwan, Germany and Hong Kong. The world’s team tournament is due at the Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani between May 20-27.

“In the Asian Championship in Malaysia  last month we almost beat Korea. We should at least take the second place in the group. But we are confident that we can take the top spot of the group,” said national coach Rexy Mainaky.

Former world No 1 mixed doubles Saralee Thoungthongkam, now a coach, also expected the women’s team to dominate the group.

“We expect to finish first in the group. Japan and China should finish first in their groups as well,” said  Saralee, member of the Thai Uber Cup team that took the bronze medal in 2012.

South Korea’s Siwoo Kim was forced to settle for a halve with American veteran Pat Perez, who gallantly fought back from being three-down through 11 holes at the Austin Country Club.

Big-hitting Kiradech, who finished T5 at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship earlier this month, never trailed in his match with Reavie, leading 2-up through the turn and eventually running out a 3 & 2 victory.

“Match play, all you have to do is play better than your competitor. I was able to keep myself in a better position. I was never behind all day. All square, 1-up, all square, 1-up, 2-up, whatever. I just kept myself in a good position and just put a lot of pressure to the other player,” said Kiradech.

The Thai faces Keegan Bradley, who halved his match with Jon Rahm, in his next Group 3 match on Thursday. “It’s still on me. I’m saying I just want to focus on my own game. Today I didn’t play my ‘A’ game, but if I can bring it out tomorrow and Friday, which is to make my points easier and to win the bracket. I love this format. I love to play in match play. The golf course is fantastic. Golf fans nice. Just look forward to playing tomorrow,” said Kiradech, who won the Paul Lawrie Match Play on the European Tour in 2015 and was also victorious in the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth last month which used a six-hole match play elimination format on the final day.

Matsuyama saw off countryman Yusaku Miyazato 2 & 1 and will next face Australian Cameron Smith, who was victorious over Patrick Cantlay. Matsuyama was 2-down through 6 before fighting back. “The birdies at seven and nine got me back into it. And then birdieing 11 and 12 and 13 were huge. That really made the difference,” said Matsuyama, the world No. 6.

Matsuyama has only advanced from the group stage once in his three previous attempts where he lost to eventual champion Rory McIlroy in 2015. A five-time PGA TOUR winner, Matsuyama has two World Golf Championships victories at the 2017 Bridgestone Invitational and the 2016 HSBC Champions. With a win, Matsuyama would join Tiger Woods (18), Dustin Johnson (5), Geoff Ogilvy (3) and Phil Mickelson (3) as the only players with three or more WGC career victories.

It was heartbreak for India’s Sharma, who fought tooth-and-nail against reigning Masters Tournament winner Sergio Garcia, who birdied the 18^th hole from just over eight feet to secure a 1-up victory.

The 21-year-old Sharma won the fifth, sixth and seventh holes to make the turn 1-up and maintained the lead through 13 holes before the Spaniard won the 14^th hole and 18^thhole to snatch the win. Sharma faces 2017 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, Xander Schauffele in his next Group 7 match.

China’s Li, who like Sharma is making his debut at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, lost 3 & 2 to American match play expert, Patrick Reed. Li faces Jordan Spieth on Thursday in a match he has to win to keep alive his hopes of progressing into the next phase of competition from Group 4.