Costa Rica meet Ecuador in a Group A encounter today, June 15 in Hamburg at 3:00 PM German time (9:00 PM EST)
Ecuador can get the second spot from Group A today if they beat Wanchope and the Ticos. The Ecuadorians are tough on defence with Ivan Hurtado, their captain and heart and soul of the La Tri. In midfield there is Edwin Tenorio, their holding midfielder and Cristian Lara, the attacking medio. The strikers upfront are Tin Delgado and Carlos Tenorio, the goalscorers against Poland. Tin Delgado is a huge target at 6’4″ and Carlos Tenorio is one peripatetic striker working every inch of the field. Ivan Kaviedes will come off the bench of as a late substitution, if the Tri need a more attacking mode.
Up front the loping Paulo Wanchope showed why he is such a threat in the Germany game. Of course, the Germans let him in because their offside trap failed on the couple of occasions but he punished them. I don’t think the Ecuadorians will be that generous.
Ecuador can get through with a win or a scoring tie. Their slate is clean as far as goals given up, with the Ticos a brace down and Poland the worst of with no chance at all.