Previous Encounters:
Ecuador and Germany have never met before the Germany 2006 World Cup Finals.
The Match:
Ecuador and Germany are both qualified, so this match decides who will win the group.
Ecuador might have had the first chance in the game but Germany made
theirs count as Bernd Schneider crossed from the left into Per Mertesacker. The defender
found Bastian Schweinsteiger, on the other side of the area, who then the ball down to the
line and cut it back for Miroslav Klose to score his third goal of the tournament; with
four minutes played.
It's been German pressure all the way, they really want to the win the
group and Klose seems to be hungry for the Golden Shoe.
Ecuador tried some South American style pass-it-around, on the
half-hour, but Germany weren't impressed; the game was under their control.
Miroslav Klose put himself on top of the goalscoring charts thanks to
a sleekly performed chip from Michael Ballack. Klose still had to shake off Geovanny
Espinoza and the goalkeeper, then it was an easy tap into an open net.
Half-time: (0:2).
Ecuador made a striking substitution at half-time. If they could get a
draw, they would finish top of the group.
Lukas Podolski slid into Bernd Schneider's right-wing cross, just
before the hour, to almost guarantee that Germany top the group; as the German fans
started a chorus of "Finale."
Final Score:
Ecuador 0 - Germany 3
Goalscorers:
0:1 Miroslav Klose (4)
0:2 Miroslav Klose (44)
0:3 Lukas Podolski (57)
Teams
Ecuador:
12 Cristian Mora; 2 Jorge Guagua, 4 Ulises De la Cruz, 13 Paul
Ambrossi, 17 Geovanny Espinoza; 8 Edison Mendez, 15 Marlon Ayovi,
16 Luis Valencia, 20 Edwin Tenorio; 9 Felix Borja, 10 Ivan Kaviedes.
Germany:
1 Jens Lehmann; 3 Arne Friedrich, 4 Robert Huth, 16 Philip Lahm, 17 Per Mertesacker; 7
Bastian Schweinsteiger, 8 Torsten Frings, 13 Michael Ballack, 19 Bernd Schneider; 11
Miroslav Klose, 20 Lukas Podolski.
Substitutions:
46 Mins (Ecuador) - 23 Cristian Benitez on for 9 Felix Borja
63 Mins (Ecuador) - 7 Cristian Lara on for 15 Marlon Ayovi
66 Mins (Germany) - 10 Oliver Neuville on for 11 Miroslav Klose,
66 Mins (Germany) - 18 Tim Borowski on for 8 Torsten Frings
68 Mins (Ecuador) - 6 Patricio Urrutia on for 15 Marlon Ayovi
72 Mins (Germany) - 14 Gerald Asamoah on for 19 Bernd Schneider
2 Yellow
Cards:
51 Mins - Luis Valencia (Ecuador)
75 Mins - Tim Borowski (Germany)
