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The first World Cup match ended. The hosts, the Germans, deservedly won 4-2. German Miroslav Klose and Costa Rican forward Paulo Wanchope each scored two goals in the most productive first match in World Cup history.
Fans anxiously awaited the World Cup and were definitely not disappointed with the first match. The meeting between the German and Costa Rican national teams delighted spectators with a flurry of goals. The Germans controlled the game throughout and started the World Cup with a victory. Despite doubts before the match whether the hosts would play well without their captain Michael Ballack, the Germans dispelled them and convincingly won 4-2.
Allianz Arena in Munich, 64,950 spectators Referee - Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) Germany 4 - 2 Costa Rica 6' [1 - 0] Philip Lahm 12' [1 - 1] Paulo Wanchope 17' [2 - 1] Miroslav Klose 61' [3 - 1] Miroslav Klose 73' [3 - 2] Paulo Wanchope 87' [4 - 2] Torsten Frings
Germany: Lehmann; Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm; Schweinsteiger, Frings, Borowski (72' Kehl), Schneider (90' Odonkor); Podolski, Klose (79' Neuville).
Costa Rica: Porras; Marin, Umana, Gonzalez, Martinez (67' Drummond); Fonseca, Solis (78' Bolanos), Centeno, Sequeira; Gomez (90' Azofeifa), Wanchope.
Usually, the first World Cup matches are not very productive and beautiful, but this time was different. Both teams played with passion and scored a total of 6 goals.
From the first minutes, the hosts were more active. In the second minute of the match, Torsten Frings tested his luck with a long shot, but the ball flew over the crossbar and landed on the top of the goal net.
The first goal did not take long to come. In the 6th minute of the match, the Germans took the lead - with a beautiful shot from the left corner of the penalty area, Germany's defender Philip Lahm sent the ball into the upper corner of the Costa Rican goalkeeper's net. This goal will undoubtedly be one of the most beautiful in this tournament.
Germany controlled the ball longer than their opponents and could soon double their lead, but Miroslav Klose's shot was blocked by the Costa Rican goalkeeper.
After six minutes of the first goal, Costa Rica equalized - German defenders made a mistake by creating an offside trap, and Costa Rican forward Paulo Wanchope broke free and scored his first goal in this tournament.
After conceding a goal, the hosts started to play more energetically and soon surged ahead again. The Costa Rican defense could not cope with the inspired opponents and in the 17th minute, the Germans scored their second goal. Receiving the ball from Torsten Frings, Bastian Schweinsteiger entered the penalty area, precisely passed the ball to the unmarked Miroslav Klose near the goal, who only needed to score it into the net.
As the first half was coming to an end, Lukas Podolski could have scored, but his penalty shot flew over the right upper corner of the goal. Costa Rican goalkeeper Jose Porras repelled the subsequent attempt by Bastian Schweinsteiger to score.
The second half did not bring significant changes and unfolded similarly to the first. The hosts played better and constantly threatened the Costa Rican goal. The German team took more initiative and after a little over an hour of play, following Philip Lahm's pass from the left side, Miroslav Klose scored his second goal - the first shot by the forward was blocked by Costa Rican goalkeeper Jose Porras, but the first to the ball was a German forward who scored from close range to increase Germany's lead.
In the 73rd minute, Costa Rican hope was revived as Paulo Wanchope scored his second goal - Walter Centeno's pass led the Costa Rican forward towards German goalkeeper J. Lehmann, and the forward once again beat the host nation's goalkeeper.
However, as the match was nearing its end, the Costa Rican team was forced to surrender: in the 86th minute, with a great shot from 30 meters, T.Frings hit the upper corner of the Costa Rican net and secured the victory with the fourth goal. Germany won a beautiful game and delighted their fans gathered in the Allianz Stadium in Munich.
