Ecuador cruise into second round of World Cup

Ecuador strolled past Costa Rica 3-0 and into the second round of the World Cup today

Ecuador strolled past Costa Rica 3-0 and into the second round of the World Cup today for the first time in their history. Goals in either half from Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado, and then a late strike from Ivan Kaviedes kept the South Americans' 100% record in Group A intact, following a 2-0 win over Poland in their opening match.

Germany is also through, having beaten Poland 1-0 in Dortmund yesterday. Degado and Tenorio were also goal scorers against the Poles. The group winners will be decided when Ecuador meets the hosts Germany next Tuesday.

The Ticos, meanwhile, head home after the first phase for a second successive final. Despite early pressure from Costa Rica, Ecuador opened the scoring after eight minutes when Tenorio headed home from a nicely floated cross by Luis Valencia. Costa Rica came out fighting once again in the second half, but their enthusiasm was short-lived as Ecuador doubled their tally in the 54th minute with a superbly taken goal.

Long range shots
Edison Mendez won the ball on the right hand corner of the box before Delgado pounced on to the loose ball, controlled it with his chest, before rifling home from a tight angle. Two minutes into injury time, Kaviedes turned the ball in with a volley after a cross from the right to make it three.

The early goal in the first half seemed to settle the South Americans, and they began to take control of the game, stringing together long pieces of passing play. Their opponents were reduced to long range shots which never really troubled Ecuador. - Reuters