at a World Cup finals. Germany vs Poland This was the 15th international meeting between Germany and Poland since 1933 and their third in World Cup competition, having previously met at both the 1974 and 1978 World Cup finals, with Germany having never lost to their opponents. The Germans, with captain Ballack restored to the starting line-up in place of Borowski, dominated play and had a number of chances in the first half, with both Klose and his strike partner Lukas Podolski failing to convert more than one chance each. Poland's best chance came early on when Maciej Żurawski sent a scuffed shot towards Lehmann which was easily gathered. During the second half Poland threatened with Jelen testing Lehmann early and Poland offered more attacking threat in the opening period. Germany also continued to push forward and forced Poland goalkeeper Artur Boruc into several saves, while both Klose and Ballack were denied by the frame of the goal during the same attack. With 15 minutes remaining, Polish midfielder Radosław Sobolewski was sent off for a second bookable offence after fouling Klose. In the last seconds of injury time, German substitutes David Odonkor and Oliver Neuville combined, the latter converting a cross from his teammate to secure a 1–0 victory, the first time Germany had ever won a World Cup game through an injury time goal. The win marked the first time Germany had beaten another European nation at a major international competition since defeating the Czech Republic in the UEFA Euro 1996 final. Ecuador vs Costa Rica This was the ninth meeting between Ecuador and Costa Rica, but the first in a competitive fixture. Costa Rica had not beaten their opponents since the first meeting between the two in 1992 and defeat would eliminate them from the finals. Ecuador manager Luis Fernando Suárez deliberately left his squad announcement until the latest time allowed, noting that he aimed to "not give any clues to our rivals". Costa Rica were forced to omit fullback Gilberto Martínez due to injury. His side started brightly but Tenorio gave Ecuador an early lead, heading in from Antonio Valencia's cross after eight minutes for his second goal of the tournament. Costa Rica struggled to threaten their opponent's goal, registering their first shot on target after 39 minutes as Ecuador controlled possession. Nine minutes into the second half, Ecuador doubled their lead through Delgado's second goal of