Ecuador make history with demolition of Costa Rica

Published on Friday 16 June 2006 00:09

Ecuador 3

Tenorio 8

Delgado 54

Kaviedes 90

Costa Rica 0

ECUADOR coach Luis Suarez hailed his side's qualification to the second phase of the World Cup as a "historic day".

The Tricolor side demolished Costa Rica in Hamburg yesterday thanks to goals from Carlos Tenorio, Agustin Delgado and substitute Ivan Kaviedes.

The triumph, which followed their 2-0 win in their opener against Poland, has assured them of a place in the last 16 for the first time in their history and still with the final group game against Germany remaining.

"Today is a very important day for Ecuador, a historic day," said the Colombian-born Suarez. "It's a day of celebration.

"We have never qualified for the second stage and this is a fantastic achievement for us."

Despite early pressure from Costa Rica, Ecuador opened the scoring after eight minutes when Tenorio headed home from a nicely floated cross from Luis Valencia and they were in control from then on.

Costa Rica came out fighting in the second half, knowing they needed a victory to prolong their involvement in the tournament, but their enthusiasm was short-lived as Ecuador doubled their tally in the 54th minute with a superbly taken goal.

Edison Mendez won the ball on the right-hand corner of the box before Delgado pounced onto the loose ball, the former Southampton player controlling 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 substitute pulled a Spiderman mask out of his shorts as the celebrations really got underway.

Suarez's team will play either the winners or the runners-up from England's Group B in the second round and the coach believes Ecuador can go far in Germany. "We haven't come to the World Cup just for the ride," he said. "We want to have a starring role and we now want more. For me, this is a personal and professional satisfaction."

Ecuador's win also ensured that Germany will play in the knockout stages and the two teams will face each other on Tuesday to decide who takes top spot in Group A.

Suarez has confirmed he will make some changes for that game in Berlin. "Some of my players are very tired and others have received some knocks," he said. "I will make some decisions regarding some changes. We must now enjoy this moment and then concentrate on making a good performance against Germany before we find out who our next rival will be."

Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes admitted Ecuador were the better team on the day. "Ecuador have shown great quality in the past two games," he said. "They are a difficult team to beat and I think they will do well."

Yesterday's defeat was Costa Rica's second of the tournament following their 4-2 reverse against Germany on the opening day of the tournament. Guimaraes, facing up to an early exit, added: "It's very disappointing to have lost two games in a row. But when you miss chances in front of goal you will get punished. We were punished by Germany and now by Ecuador."

Guimaraes believes his team must make vast improvements if they want to end the tournament with a triumph. Los Ticos take on winless Poland in their last Group A clash, with nothing more than pride at stake.

"Both teams are going to play for pride," he said. "Of course, we will need to show a better performance than we have in our previous two games."

Ecuador: Mora, De la Cruz, Reasco, Espinoza (Guagua 68), Hurtado, Castillo, Valencia (Urrutia 73), Edwin Tenorio, Mendez, Carlos Tenorio (Kaviedes 45), Delgado. Subs not used: Villafuerte, Perlaza, Lara, Borja, Ambrossi, Ayovi, Saritama, Lanza, Benitez.

Costa Rica: Porras, Gonzalez (Hernandez 56), Umana, Wallace, Marin, Fonseca (Saborio 28), Centeno (Bernard 84), Solis, Sequeira, Wanchope, Gomez. Subs not used: Drummond, Bolanos, Azofeifa, Badilla, Nunez, Rodriguez, Alfaro, Mesen.