Day 1 Match Report: Goal Extravaganza

GERMANS RUN RIOT IN OPENER, AGAIN

Germany 4 Costa Rica 2

Well four years ago I watched Germany's World Cup opener from a hotel in Niigata Japan and the eight goals they nailed against Saudi Arabia scared the daylights out of me and every other Ireland fan watching. This time they poured in the goals again against a hapless Costa Rica backline. Costa Rica was officially the first country in the world to do away with a military and today it was obvious they don't care very much for defense. Germany completely dominated the game, pressing Costa Rica and using space well. Costa Rica rarely threatened and both of their goals looked offside. The Ticos have to be happy with only a -2 goal differential.

Match Rating: 5 out of 5. Germany dominated throughout but you can't argue with six goals, two of which(Lahm's and Frings's were awesome and awesomer respectively) and another two clinical finishes by Wanchope for Costa Rica.

Player of the Game: Lahm. Opened the scoring with a bang and was constantly involved.

Huh? Oliver Kahn looked a little too happy on the bench after the second goal went in against his goalkeeping rival Lehmann. Also, both of Costa Rica's goals were offside. The first ridiculously so, the second less blatant. Still, all credit to Wanchope for beating Lehmann on both 1 on 1 occasions. He's deadly when he gets the ball. Problem is he only got it twice.

Disappointment of the Game: ESPN 2's halftime commentary team includes Julie Foudy. Now I have nothing against her personally, it's just that she reminds me of the most horrible soccer videogame of all time, the abysmal FIFA 2000 from which the series is still recovering. That and the fact that I'm probably better at soccer than her.

The Fallout: Lots of pressure off of Germany's shoulders for the historical grudge match with Poland. Costa Rica are in trouble. Few teams recover from opening game losses. The upcoming game against Ecuador is nearly a must-win.

Extra: Latin American sides take note. You need to be a much more physical and run a lot harder to keep European sides from dominating this World Cup.