June 9th 2006,Day 1:
The world Cup kicks off in Germany with the hosts taking on Costa Rica in the opening tie at Munich. Immediately after the whistle, the game slides on to top gear and Phillip Lahm - who plays for Bayern Munich - scores the opener with an amazing curling shot to the top right corner. with just 5 minutes on the clock, Germany have been given the perfect start by Lahm. A few minutes later, Wanchope slips past the German defence and escapes the Offside trap to fire one past Lehmann - though the offside call was expected and was highly debatable. But the mighty Germans were not to be outdone and Klose finishes off a flowing German move to restore their lead. And all this with just 17 minutes on the clock. What a start to the world cup! Soon, Klose got his second of the game to give them a good lead. Wanchope pulled another one back for the Costa Ricans, another tough offside call - but Torsten Frings made sure that Germany come out victorious with a thundering drive from way out in the midfield and stamped German authority over the game. Lahm's and Frings' goals could very well be leading contenders for the Goal of the Tournament!

Germany 4-2 Costa Rica
5-Lahm(GER), 11-Wanchope(CRI), 16-Klose(GER), 60-Klose(GER), 72-Wanchope(CRI), 86-Frings(GER)

The other game of the opening night saw Poland take Ecuador. Much was expected from Poland but Ecuador caused an upset by scoring 2 and not cenceding any. Tenorio and Delgado making their mark in the World Cup. Poland had their changes and will certainly be ruing their opportunities as now they have a tough task ahead of them.

Poland 0-2 Ecuador
23-Tenorio(ECU),79-Delgado(ECU)