VS
Germany meets Costa Rica on 9 Jun in Munich at 6:00 PM German time (12:00 PM EST)
Group A: Costa Rica, Ecuador, Poland, and Germany.
Germany- Costa Rica FIFA ranking/ WC odds 19/ 7:1 26/ 500:1
World Cup record:
Matches/ Wins/Draws/Losses/Goals for/Goals against/Goal Diff/Points/
Germany 85/ 50/ 18/ 17/ 176/ 106/ 70 / 168
Costa Rica 7/ 3/ 1/ 3/ 9/ 12/ -3/ 10/
Costa Rica in the World Cup
1990
The Ticos made it to the second round in 1990 with a win over Scotland 1-0, losing to Brazil 1-0, and in a memorable match they put away Sweden 2-1. Their current coach Alexander Guimaraes, a Brazilian by birth was responsible for the last goal. He headed a ball back into open play after the Swedish goalkeeper kicked a long ball into the midfield. Hernan Medford latched onto it and then began a footrace between the speedy Medford and the Swedish defence. Medford found himself one on one with the goalkeeper, hesitated, and then tapped the ball out of the goalkeeper’s reach into the right hand corner of the goal. Costa Rica had won and were through to the second round. However in this round, the plucky Ticos lost to Czechoslovakians 4-1, including a hat trick by Tomas Skuhravy, and were eliminated.
2002
In 2002, they played Brazil and in an exhilarating match that should have seen the Ticos at least a few goals up by half time, instead were down 3-0. But the Brazilians forgot to defend and in the second half the Ticos roared back scoring two quick goals to make the score 3-2 through captain Paulo Wanchope. The two teams played with elan and the Ticos matched the Brazilians till the last few minutes before running out of steam and losing 5-2. Costa Rica won against China 2-0 and drew 1-1 with Turkey, the third place finisher in the 2002 WC.
2006
This is the third World Cup for the Ticos led by striker Pualo Wanchope and it will be a confident Ticos team taking on Germany who have struggled a bit before clicking in their last friendly against Colombia 3-0. Michael Ballack and Robert Huth are coming of injuries. The Ticos have an experienced team with a majority of them in their 30’s led by Mauricio Solis at 34. The Germans are much younger with Michael Ballack, Oliver Kahn, Jens Lehmann and Torsten Frings the only returnees from the WC 2002.

Germany in the World Cup
Germany since unification has played in four World Cups (in 1994, 1998, 2002, and now 2006). In 2002 they entered the finals losing to Brazil, 2-0. As W.Germany, they have an extensive history in the World Cup having won it all in 1954, 1974, and 1990. Franz Beckenbauer played as the captain for the 1974 winning team and then coached the W. Germans to success in 1990. The WC record for the most goals is held by Gerd Muller with 14. Ronaldo is expected to break that record in this World Cup with his second place 12 goals.
Key fact: The Germans are the best at taking penalties and have won all their matches when decided by penalty shootouts, 3-0. They have converted 13 out of 14 PKs for an impressive rating of 93%. One of the WC’s most gripping matches was the 1982 semi- finals played by France against W. Germany which the Germans won in a penalty shootout 5-4 after a thrilling seesaw battle with Michel Platini’s team.
For more on Germany/ W.Germany’s record on the World Cup
Key matchup: The German set pieces vs the Ticos veteran defence
The Germans have perfected the art of the free kick and the penalty corners. They have Bernd Schneider, a right footer and Lukas Podolksi, a left footer. Usually the ball curves in towards the goal, hit at high speed and the German players line up and run towards the goal. Michael Ballack or Miroslav Klose usually get there in the second or third wave and the head the ball in as it curves across the goal, as the rest of the Germans screen them out.
It will be up to Costa Rican veteran defenders Luis Marin, Gilberto Martinez and Miguel Umana to keep track of Michael Ballack and Miroslav Klose and box them out. Jose Porras in goal will have to be cat like in his reflexes. Porras and the Ticos will hope that he can pull off the scintillating keeping of Gabelo Conejo, the star of the 1990 CR squad.
Costa Rica has done extremely well against European teams winning against Scotland and Sweden, the first Central American team to do so. They have experienced midfielders Mauricio Solis who played in all three matches in the 2002 WC and scored 6 goals in the WC qualifiers, and Walter Centeno, with Cristian Bolanos, a relative newcomer. Striker Paulo Wanchope who has 43 goals in 67 internationals will be their main forward threat. Wanchope has had extensive international experience playing for Derby County, West Ham, and Manchester City.
Wanchope will most likely come as a substitute to striker Victor Nunez in case he does not play well or Costa Rica falls behind.
Key German players:
Lukas Podolksi (striker)
Bastein Schweinsteiger (midfielder)
Bernd Schneider (midfielder)
Michael Ballack (midfielder)
Tim Borowski (midfielder)
Torsten Frings (midfielder)
Robert Huth (defender)
Phillip Lahm (defender)
Jens Lehmann (goalkeeper)
Coach:
Jurgen Klinsmann (record) W 6 L 2 D 2
As host Germany qualified automatically for the World Cup
Costa Rica
Victor Nunez (striker)
Paulo Wanchope (striker)
Cristian Bolanos (midfielder)
Walter Centeno (midfielder)
Mauricio Solis (midfielder)
Luis Marin (defender)
Miguel Umana (defender)
Gilberto Martinez (defender)
Jose Porras (goalkeeper)
Coach
Alexandre Guimaraes (record) W 14 L 8 D 2
Alexandre Guimaraes on the spirit of the 1990 Ticos
Inside the mind of Jurgen Klinsmann
Michael Ballack has words for Jurgen Klinsmann
Shocker! In news that could bolster Costa Rican expectations and prove to be a blow for Germany, supremo Michael Ballack has been ruled out of the opener.
Best of luck to both the teams- but Soccerblog will always root for the underdogs (unless it is Brazil or Holland). So go CR!!