While I can't claim to be an expert on Ecuador's player pool, supposedly they came out with a pretty weak line-up for this game. Ecuador had already qualified for the second round, and the second place finisher may have an easier quarterfinal, so it wasn't like there was a lot to play for. Ecuador came out sluggish, and really didn't look threatening for most of the game.
Miroslav Klose took charge of the golden boot race with two first half goals through a very disorganized Ecuadorean defense. In the second half on Podolski's goal, Mora practically just watched it go past him into the net, and the Ecuadorean defender playing the cross did a great job. Way too far away to put any pressure on Schneider, but in perfect position to let Podolski get ahead of his defender without being offside.
Germany 3-0 Ecuador
'4 Klose
'44 Klose
'57 Podolski
And in the race for dead last in the tournament:
Poland 2-1 Costa Rica
'24 Gomez
'33 Bosacki
'66 Bosacki
Costa Rica making up some ground on Serbia, who are currently still dead last. Contending for that spot, all with zero points:
Team +/- Goals
Cote d'Ivoire -2 2
Togo -3 1
Iran -4 1
Costa Rica* -6 3
Serbia -7 0
Everybody but Costa Rica has a game to play and can move up (or down), and get off this list by getting a draw or better. The marquee match-up for incompetence is Cote d'Ivoire against Serbia & Montenegro tomorrow, ball-hogging versus not getting out of your own half.
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