HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -- Ecuador hit a new soccer high, reaching
the second round of the World Cup for the first time.
Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado scored their second goals of
the tournament, and Ecuador cruised past Costa Rica 3-0 Thursday.
Ecuador and host Germany (both 2-0) claimed the two berths from
Group A and will meet England, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago or
Paraguay in the second round.
"We're now thinking about being group leaders, we think about
winning every game," Delgado said. "We want to win the next game,
even though we're in the second round."
Ecuador plays the Germans on Tuesday, needing only a tie to
claim first place.
"I think it'll be the most beautiful game to play, even more so
because we already advanced," Delgado said.
Costa Rica and Poland, both 0-2, became the first teams
eliminated from the 32-nation field.
Tenorio scored in the eighth minute and Delgado in the 54th.
Ivan Kaviedes, who replaced Tenorio at the start of the second
half, scored in the second minute of injury time from 6 yards off a
cross from Edison Mendez, getting by captain Luis Marin and sliding
to poke the ball in. Kaviedes pulled a yellow mask out of his pants
and put it over his head, looking like a cross between Spiderman
and Tweety Bird.
Goalkeeper Cristian Mora, again playing with Ecuador flags
painted on his cheeks, jumped with joy after Delgado's goal built a
two-goal margin early in the second half.
Historically, the Tricolors have found success only at their
home field in Quito, more than 9,000 feet above sea level. But
after winning just once in 10 games coming into their second World
Cup, the South Americans have won two in a row, starting with a 2-0
victory over Poland last Friday.
"We made history and that's what we came here to do," Ecuador
coach Luis Suarez said. "We achieved our first goal, but it won't
be the only one."
Costa Rica, Central America's dominant team, was coming off a
4-2 loss to Germany in the World Cup opener and was eliminated in
the first round for the second straight World Cup. Four years ago,
the Ticos lost out to Turkey on goal difference.
Tenorio scored his seventh goal in 31 international appearances
after some nifty passing in the midfield. The ball was played to
Luis Valencia on the right flank, and he crossed around Marin to
Tenorio, who burst ahead of Douglas Sequeira and beat goalkeeper
Jose Porras with a header from close range.
Considered the successor to Delgado as Ecuador's top scorer,
Tenorio left the game at halftime.
Delgado got his 31st goal in 70 appearances following a
throw-in, exchanging passes, bursting between Marin and Michael
Umana, then beating Porras to the near post. Kaviedes' goal was his
14th in 46 games for Ecuador.
While the Ecuadorean fans, dressed in canary yellow, sang and
banged drums in one corner, Ticos supporters, clad in fire-truck
red in the other corner, were stunned into silence for long
stretches.
Costa Rica's best chance to get back in the game came in the
42nd minute, when Sequeira tried to bounce a header in and missed
wide. A minute earlier, Porras had to lean back to parry a
deflected cross. Alvaro Saboria hit the underside of the crossbar
in the 88th, only to have the ball bounce out.
