Germany VS. Costa Rica
Germany isn’t being a very nice host.  Just ask Costa Rica.  Today, the host country beat Costa Rica by the score of 4-2, the highest-scoring opener in the history of the World Cup.  Costa Rica had little else besides Paulo Wanchope, who scored the two goals for them.  The German team is young, but a win like this can catapult them far.

The German team was without captain Michael Ballack, who is one of the better players in the world.  Before the game, Ballack did want to play through his calf injury, but was talked out of it by his coach, Juergen Klinsmann.  If Ballack can come back and play up to par, the German team becomes even stronger.  Miroslav Klose scored two goals for the host country, while Philipp Lahm and Torsten Frings each scored one goal.

Ecuador VS. Poland
Ecuador was highly criticized regarding their credentials to play in the World Cup because a lot of their qualifying matches were played in the high altitude of Quito, Ecuador, which gave them an advantage versus their opponents - the Ecuadoreans were used to the thin air, while their opponents were not and would theoretically tire quicker.

However, playing in front of a hostile crowd cheering for Poland, Ecuador beat Poland 2-0… near sea level!  The win is a big win and talks well of the Ecuadorean team and the validity of them being at the World Cup.  Augustin Delgado played a hand in both scores as he scored one and assisted on the other to Carlos Tenorio.