Ecuador make short work of Costa Rica in Group A

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Ecuador created chances freely and kept Costa Rica quiet for a 3-0 victory in the AOL Arena, Hamburg, Thursday.

The win for the South American team meant both Ecuador and Germany, each with six points from two games, progressed from Group A into the knock-out phase of the Fifa World Cup in Germany.

It was a comfortable match for Ecuador's Columbian coach Luis Suarez. He managed to rest three key players - goal scorer Carlos Tenorio, provider Luis Valencia, and impressive centre-back Giovanny Espinoza, with substitutes before the game was out.

Ecuador played keep ball well and maintain a slow tempo while Alexandre Guimaraes's side did not look a team able to raise the pace of the game and sustain pressure on Christian Mora's goal.

The game-winner was scored after seven minutes of action. Valencia to the right of the penalty area whipped a ball across the goal. Tenorio, unmarked in front of Jose Porras, dipped his body and headed in.

Costa Rica and Ecuador both missed opportunities before half time: Douglas Sequeira was unmarked at the Ecuador far post but his header was mistimed and wide.

Then Edison Mendez and Agustin Delgado nearly combined for a carbon-copy of the first goal; but the striker, who had ran in unmarked in front of Porras, did stab at the ball and skewed it wide.

After he had another shot saved Degaldo's third attempt found the net. He shot hard from an angle inside the penalty area and beat Porras on his near post.

It was then Tenorio's substitute Kaviedes's turn to miss two then score one. A save from Porras, a header wide, and finally the striker connected for a beautiful far post volley, finishing off another Mendez cross.

Costa Rica were unlucky when a clever first time chip from Alvaro Saborio beat Mora only to hit a post but they had not created the clear chances that Ecuador had at the other end.

The long shots from Carlos Hernandez and Mauricio Solis's tricky run were acts of individual play. No match for a solid-looking team who got its second consecutive World Cup shut out and will play Germany for the honour of Group A winner, on June 20.