An entertaining match with plenty of cracking action (and goals) throughout, ended Costa Rica 2, Germany 4.
It looked like the Germans would only just sneak out a victory in this one, until they settled the issue once and for all in the 87th minute on a first time wallop from distance by Torsten Frings, via a short Schweinsteiger free kick.
Every time the Germans looked like they had match in hand, the pesky Costa Ricans fought back, led by lanky yet graceful Paulo Wanchope and his two goals.
The first 17 minutes were frantic, with no less than three goals scored.
Germany opened the campaign in brilliant fashion in minute 6 with Philipp Lahm masterfully creating space and then unleashing a laser strike to far upper corner of goal, kissing the inner portion of the post on its way in.
The Germans were looking dominant, but the Central Americans' first shot on goal coming in the 12th minute found the back of the net to equalize.
It appeared that the Costa Ricans were offsides on the goal as Wanchope slid through the defense to coolly put the ball past keeper Lehmann, but no such call from the refereeing staff.
It only took five minutes for Germany to regain the lead when Bernd Schneider back passed from the end line to Bastian Schweinsteiger.
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Schweinsteiger hesitated slightly upon receipt to freeze the defense, then smartly sprinted forward to make space for a short grasscutter pass met by Miroslav Klose at the far post, who punched it in.
Schweinsteiger had a marvelous first half but cooled off considerably in the final interval.
A couple poor offside calls against Costa Rica were notable toward the end of the first half, which finished with Germany ahead 2-1.
The second half started much like the first, when Germany's Lukas Podolski launched a missile just above crossbar.
Germany appeared to seal the match in the 61st minute with a second Klose goal for a 3-1 lead.
But 11 minutes later, another cool goal by Costa Rica's Wanchope put the match up for grabs once again at 3-2 with plenty of time left.
Finally in the 87th minute, a Frings curler into the corner of goal put the match out of reach 4-2, leading to the substitution of David Odonkor (who is reportedly faster than the wind) and his German debut.
If this opening match is a sign of things to come, then this World Cup will be an absolute football fiesta for fans.
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