World Cup newcomers have given a decent account of themselves Three matches will be today in the second stage of the World Cup preliminaries. In Group A, Ecuador meets Costa Rica in Hamburg, while in Group B, England takes on Trinidad & Tobago in Nuremberg. And Sweden meets Paraguay in Berlin. Before playing their second game, hosts Germany had opened the 2006 World Cup finals with a 4-2 win over Costa Rica in Munich on Friday in an exciting opening match that produced three goals inside the first 17 minutes. Philipp Lahm fired Germany in front on six minutes, Paulo Wanchope drew the Ticos level six minutes later before Miroslav Klose restored the Germans' lead. The Poles, more direct and anxious after losing to Ecuador, will need to improve if they are to take something from their eagerly awaited fixture against Germany. Confidently, Ecuador play their second game today against first match losers Costa Rica. The Luis Suarez's Ecuador side began their World Cup campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Poland in Gelsenkirchen. It was a hard-fought encounter which witnessed goals either side of half-time for Ecuador. Carlos Tenorio profited from Agustin Delgado's flicked header in the 24th minute to give the South Americans the lead. With 10 minutes of normal time remaining, the provider turned goalscorer as Delgado side-footed home from close range to put Ecuador second in the Group A table behind Germany on goal difference. Learning from their debut at the World Cup four years ago, Ecuador produced a highly efficient team performance to deservedly take the three points in their opening game. Leading the Group B standings so far, England takes on Trinidad & Tobago while Sweden faces Paraguay. The English team had got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start in Frankfurt with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday. However, they did not have their own way against the South Americans, who gave Sven-Goran Eriksson's men some nervous moments during the 90 minutes. The only goal of the game came in the third minute when David Beckham's free-kick skimmed off the head of Carlos Gamarra and into the net. Paraguay pushed for an equaliser in the second half, but despite their best efforts, a goal was not forthcoming and most now turn their attention to their next Group B game against Sweden in Berlin today. Paraguay can take heart from their battling display, though they had no reward for their efforts. Competing in their first finals, Trinidad and Tobago pulled off a famous result, showing tenacity and no lack of tactical discipline to hold the more favoured Sweden to a goalless draw. Playing against 10 men for virtually the entire second half, Scandinavia's sole representatives were unable to break through and will now have to regroup for their match against Paraguay. The final scoreline was made all the more incredible as Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 47th in the world, compared to Sweden's 16, had Avery John sent off in the 46th minute for two bookable offences. At full-time, the Caribbean side's players and supporters danced for joy, while Lars Lagerback's men slumped to the turf in disappointment. The match may not have produced any goals, but the drama was there for all to see. In a highly entertaining Group C game in Hamburg, two first half goals from Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola helped Argentina to a 2-1 win over Côte d'Ivoire in Hamburg. The Albiceleste took the lead in the 24th minute when Crespo scored a classic poacher's goal. Henri Michel's side failed to deal with a Juan Riquelme free-kick and the Chelsea striker was on hand to turn the loose ball home. Argentina doubled their advantage 14 minutes later when Riquelme picked out Saviola with a great pass and the striker produced a beautiful finish to steer the ball past Jean- Jacques Tizie. Didier Drogba, Crespo's team-mate at Chelsea, gave the Ivorians hope with a goal eight minutes from time, but the South Americans hung on to secure the three points. Argentina held on for a precious victory in a classic end-to-end encounter, but Côte d'Ivoire were desperately unlucky not to claim a point in a frenetic finish. A first-half goal from Arjen Robben was enough to earn the Netherlands a 1-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro in their opening match in Leipzig. Robben struck the only goal of an absorbing contest in the 18th minute, finishing confidently after his speed carried him clear of the Serbia and Montenegro back line. The victory puts Marco van Basten's Dutch team level on three points with Argentina at the top of Group C. Serbia and Montenegro fought all the way but the Dutch did enough to secure a narrow and important win in this keenly contested game. Van Basten can celebrate his first victory in a World Cup game, either as a player or coach. The Oranje can look ahead with confidence to facing Côte d'Ivoire tomorrow while Serbia and Montenegro face another daunting assignment against Argentina. With 67 goals in 18 qualifying games, Mexico were the team arriving in Germany with the most faith in their strikers. They were banking on taking that form into the quadrennial showpiece and when Omar Bravo opened the scoring against Iran before the half-hour they looked comfortable. But the Iranians were doughty opponents, finding an equaliser within eight minutes and proceeding to hold their own. Mexico's goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez had only returned to Germany the previous day after attending the funeral of his father who had been planning to travel to see his son perform on the world stage at last after two previous World Cups were spent on the bench. Before the start Sanchez lifted arms and eyes towards the heavens; at the final whistle he was surrounded by team-mates in an emotional embrace. Millions of neutrals watching worldwide would have been supporting Mexico purely for his sake. And Sanchez was celebrating in the 76th minute as Iran goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour and Rahman Rezaei combined to make a hash of things, leaving Bravo to pocket his second. Iran suffered for their late collapse as Mexico finished with a 3-1 win which was arguably harsh on Branko Ivankovic's men. The Mexicans will face Angola tomorrow with confidence, but Iran, who looked a dangerous side in parts, must pick themselves up before facing Portugal on Saturday. For 400 years or more Portugal were the masters of Angola before colonial rule ended in 1975. The west Africans' debut appearance at the World Cup was therefore a moment of history, and of high emotion, an occasion to remember for all time for people blighted by famine and war. The first minute was not encouraging for the newcomers as Pauleta got free and could easily have scored. Portugal's leading scorer in qualifying had only three minutes to wait, however, for his first World Cup goal, Figo rolling back the years to outsprint Jamba before laying the ball back for Pauleta to convert. Yet the team under the tutelage of Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose last World Cup involvement was to lead Brazil to victory in 2002, struggled to convince thereafter. Once more tournament newcomers had given a good account of themselves.
