Costa Rica's Alvaro Saborio (L) vies with his opponent of Ecuador during the second round match of World Cup 2006 Group A in Hamburg, Germany, June 15, 2006. Ecuador won 3-0. -Xinhua

Ecuador beat Costa Rica 3-0 yesterday in their second match in Group A at the 2006 World Cup finals, entering the knock-out stage of the tournament together with hosts Germany.

Striker Carlos Tenorio scored the opener only 8 minutes into the game as he knocked the ball into the net off a cross from midfielder Luis Valencia.

The Ecuadorans continued their attacks after the break and Agustin Delgado scored the second in 54th, leaving the Costa Ricans dumbfounded.

Ivan Kaviedes kicked the ball into the net after midfielder Edison Mendez found him in the penalty box in the injury time.

Both Delgado and Tenorio scored apiece when playing against Poland on June 9.

The scores sent thunderous cheers from the nearly 50,000 audience at the Stadium Hamburg, where the temperature was around 22 degrees centigrade.

Throughout the match, the Ecuadorans leashed continuous attacks on the Costa Ricans, forcing goalkeeper Jose Porras to either dive or palm out many a threats.

Their attacks were forceful and their defence was stable, leaving few chances for the Costa Ricans to strike the ball into the box.

"The Ecuadorans are surprisingly strong. They played very well as there are two internationally known players," said Josef Schaefer, a reporter from Germany's Main-Post, which is based in Wuerzburg.

He referred to midfielder Edison Mendez and forward Agustin Delgado.

He said that Germany would have a hard fight against such a strong Ecuador on June 20 in Berlin.

"The Costa Ricans are very weak today," said Schaefer.

Lagging behind, the Costa Ricans also launched vigorous offensives for a hope of a goal, but lacked real threats as time clicked away.

Costa Rican coach Alexandre Guimarares fielded in midfielder Alvaro Saborio to replace Danny Fonseca in the 29th minute, but failed to reap any achievement.

Mauricio Solis, who was fished out a yellow card by Benin's referee Coffi Codjia, slammed in the 40th minute but the ball directly flew into the arms of Ecuadoran goalkeeper Christian Mora.

After the break, Costa Ricans tried to re-organize attacks and mounted real pressure on Ecuadoran goalkeeper for several times, but failed ultimately to find the net.

Both Ronald Gomez and Walter Centeno squandered their best chances as the ball flew away from the goalmouth.

Throughout, star striker Paulo Wanchope had few opportunities to strike for Costa Rica, who lost to Germany 4-2 in the opener of the tournament on June 9 when Ecuador beat Poland 2-0.

Wanchope told Xinhua after the match that he would retire afterthe World Cup tournament.

"I would like to stay in Europe to play football," said the 30-year-old, who once had played in several European clubs such as Derby County, West Ham United and Manchester City.

Guimarares told reporters, "Today's play is very difficult for us. We have never before played this kind of defeat because Ecuador had no mercy."

"They knew how to take control in the adventure," he said, "We had a chance to tie, but counterattack was dangerous."

Guimarares said he expected to win over Germany in the next match.

With the win, Ecuador lead Germany into the second phase by topping Group A on goal difference, while both Poland and Costa Rica who lost two games each, will play against each other in their last Group A match before packing up.

Ecuador had never taken part in the World Cup finals before 2002.

National coach of Ecuador told reporters after the match, "We achieved our first goal. We have have many more goals to achieve in following matches."

He praised his players as "playing fairly well," saying that they would play better in the second round of the month-long tournament.

"Back in Ecuador, people are happier than ever as the team have finished first in Group A," bloated the coach, who could not conceal his happiness and excitement.

Delgado, Man of the Match, said, "so far, so good," in commenting the performance of his team.

He attributed the victory partly to psychological techniques as his team scored very early.

"But we still have many things to do in the future."