And how about a round of applause for Ecuador? They played their jheri curls off out there, and it was certainly a tremendous achievement to get as far as they did. Carlos Tenorio was fantastic through the whole tournament, and I tend to think that he won't be spending much more time in the Qatari League.

It should be a fantastic game a little later at 3 o'clock between Portugal and The Netherlands, the winner of which gets England next. The Dutch haven't lost a game in two years. That last loss, however, came to Portugal in Euro 2004, so they've got a little bit of pent-up Dutch aggression waiting to be unleashed. Cristiano Ronaldo should beware wooden shoes kicking him in the shins.

England 1-0 Ecuador [BBC Sport]
Portugal v Holland [BBC Sport]

That was all very technical, of course; what's really fun, as always, will be the crazy home-country fans, who will be looking to send the crew into the Round of 16 in style. Yeah: Germany vs. Ecuador.

We were going to live blog the Costa Rica-Poland game right alongside this, but the live blogger of that game is stuck with technical problems. So this is your lone live-blog this morning. It's Benny Hsu, purveyor of The Sports Pulse. You can email him with your thoughts, follow along in the comments and hey, enjoy the bringing the rock, rockers.

Post game: The Germans are going to party tonight like it's 1999. Thanks for those few who may have followed along with me. Thanks to Will for the opportunity to contribute to the best sports blog out there. Enjoy the rest of the World Cup games.

92:08 The referee blows the final whistle. 3-0 butt whooping. Germany wins the group. Their opponent will be decided later today. If England ties or wins they will win the group and avoid a matchup with Germany. Though as a soccer fan that would be a dream matchup.

90:00 Free kick just outside the box for Ecuador. Again the Germans with a huge wall up. This time the shot goes way low. Corner kick for Ecuador.

89:00 Ecuador looks lethargic out there today. They looked worse than Togo and that's pretty bad.

86:44 A strong shot by Ballack that is saved by the goalie. It actually seemed to knock him back because it was struck so hard.

83:00 Pace of the game is slowing down. Germany still trying to score but fumbles the ball when they get close.

80:41 I don't vote for the man of the match but my vote is for the little boy, Jose, in this ubiquitious Nike commericals. Second place would be Klose with two goals.

76:00 Ballack "DRIVES IT!!" as JP said. Driving a Mercedes instead of a Volkswagen probably.

74:40 Borowski with a yellow card. I missed what it was for and with the confused look on his face he missed it too.

73:36 Another mention of the scenario for the USA team. They need to play like the Germans basically.

71:00 The Germans set up a nice wall and the ball sails way over. Not the first them there's been a nice wall in Germany.

69:00 Foul from behind and Ecuador with a nice chance with a free kick from the top of the box. I always wonder how the opposing players communicate each other and with the referee since everyone's from a different country. Since Chinese is the most spoken language on the planet, I'll assume that's how they communicate.

66:00 First substitution for Germany. Klose comes out but Ballack is still in the game. Surprising. I wouldn't want to risk injury or a second yellow care for a match that is one sided. Hope the plan doesn't backfire for Klinsmann. He might have to hide in the Afghan caves if Ballack got seriously hurt.

63:00 Ecuador makes their first subsitution. It's two names I've never heard of before so I wont' bother to look it up.

62:00 I'm glad soccer is not like baseball where the coaches/managers have to wear the uniform. It'd be even worse if they had to wear shin guards and long socks as well.

59:00 Again Podolski almost had another goal. Ballack with a nice run to goal and a short cross to Podolski. They must be going for Argentina's record of six goals in this World Cup.

56:39 GGGGOOOAAALLL!! I'd be losing my voice if I wasn't typing it. Podolski finally gets his goal on a nice cross from Schweinsteiger. All he had to do was redirect the ball. 3-0 now Germany.

52:50 Podolski has a great opportunity on goal but just shoots it wide. They show the mandatory shot of Klinsmann's reaction to the missed goal. Thanks to a two goal lead, it didn't look like he was going to turn into the Incredible Hulk.

51:00 First yellow card of the game given to Valencia. He went studs up into Ballack's ankle. Somewhat similar to the Mastraoni foul in the Italy game. Dangerous foul. Ballack is walking off and the country of German can breath.

48:50 Tenorio gets a shot off the Lehmann. He finally had to make a save. No sweat though. He's with leather.

45:40 Lots of traffic inside the box and almost another goal for German. This time it was Podolski who had the best chance.

Halftime: In the first half the Germans domainted. They had three shots on goal (scored 2) while Ecuador has the goose egg. I don't see many hard and nasty fouls. Probably because both know they are moving to the round of 16 and are risking no major injuries on both sides. Wonder if Klinsmann will take out starters to save their energy and avoid second yellow cards.

I can imagine both teams in the locker room playing online poker or playing FIFA on the XBOX 360. That's how laid back this game feels.

Whittlz is threatening to get a pedicure unless Ecuador turns this game around. Let's hope the 2nd round bring us more action.

45:00 That is the half. Thanks to Klose the Germans have a 2-0 lead in this game. Ecuador looks content to look forward to the next round. Enjoy halftime but try not to stare directly at Julie Foudy.

43:03 GOOOOOOAAALL again for Klose! Ballack puts a nice chip pass to Klose who takes a touch to the right to avoid the goalie and has an open net to shoot. Great goal scorers finish opportunities like this. Two goals in the game for Klose.

40:00 So far there have been 18 fouls in this game but no yellow cards. That must be a record in this World Cup. The USA/Italy game was just about to have 2 red cards by this point.

37:08 Lehman still hasn't had a shot on goal on him. Ecuador gets a shot off but it was headed for the seats.

36:15 Quick counter for Ecuador but there were two yellow jerseys against four white ones. I know that's more white than yellow even though it's early.

33:44 Hard foul on Ballack. He got an elbow to the head by Guagua. Elbow to the head but not even a yellow card.

32:49 Not much to say about Ecuador. So I will say that the main currency in Ecuador is the US Dollar. I never knew that.

32:00 Free kick opportunity from outside the 18 yard box for Matt Damon look alike captain Michael Ballack.

29:15 Podolski has a break away but the goalie comes out to kick the ball away. Ballack had an open goal from 40 yards away but sails it wide right.

28:18 Again another mention and discussion about the USA game. I have a feeling this will be a common theme this whole match. Especially if this turns into a one sided game.

27:32 The crowd is not booing but they're saying "HUTH" for defender Robert Huth. What a last name.

26:08 Costa Rica has scored and leads 1-0 over Poland. Poland was expected to finish second in the group behind Germany. So far they haven't scored a goal yet. We know that feeling.

24:30 Klose with another chance to score but the ball was a bit too fast for him and grabbed by the goalie. Again the goalie has the Ecuadorian flag painted on his face.

21:39 First player down in the game. Kaviedes goes down in a lot of pain. But quickly is brought back to life.

18:54 The quickest goal in a World Cup finals match, as recognised by FIFA, is 11 seconds, scored by Hakan Sukur of Turkey against Korea Republic at Daegu, Korea on June 29, 2002.

18:19 Germany again with another great play down the sideline. The cross came back to the middle but was shot over the goal.

16:00 We are reminded again the situation for the USA game. We must pray basically.

13:52 Germany applying the pressure still. Ecuador has taken out some of their starters including top scorer Tenorio. Having a tough time stringing passes. It shows.

10:57 Quickest goal for Germany since 1978. It was a great goal as well. Time for an extra beer.

08:31 All the possession thus far has been mainly in the German half of the field.

05:53 That is the first time I have ever seen a short pass off a free kick and then immediately another foul. It is like 5 yards to the right this time.

05:08 Foul outside the top left corner of the penalty box. Dangerous situation for Germany. They are looking to dominate this game for the home fans in Berlin.

03:40 GOOOOOOALLLLLL!!!!! Not off the corner kick but the ball kept alive afterwards! Goal scoring machine Klose drives the ball about 10 yards away an drills it into the goal. He then does a backflip to celebrate.

03:00 First corner kick of the match goes to Germany.

01:00 Ecuador already with their first real scoring chance on a cross but saved by Lehmann.

00:00 Germany sporting their classic white and black uniforms. Ecuador comes out in their yellow jersey, with blue shorts, and red socks.

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I'm excited to be live blogging this game. Thanks to Will for giving me the space. I hope to do my best to give you play-by-play during the next two hours.

Preview:Ecuador has certainly impressed so far this World Cup and they currently have the lead in the group based on the goal differentials. A draw for them would be enough to give them first place in the group and avoid a clash with England. Germany on the other hand needs to win this game if they are going to finish first so there will be plenty to play for here. The Germans are going to be fielding their strongest line-up for this game despite the fact that Captain Michael Ballack is carrying a yellow card into this game. Word out of the Ecuadorian camp is that they may rest players sitting on a yellow card for the knock out stage. They may be content to just be at this point now and will start to make preparations for the knock-out stage regardless of who they draw. Carlos Tenorio will be held back by Ecuador as he nurses an injury and coach Suarez may make as many as 5 moves for this match.

For those who get excited about World Cup gambling today Germany is favored by one goal with the over/under total goals at 2.5. If you are betting you would have known this already.

Announcing Crew: Today we thankfully don't have to listen to the yelling of Glen Davis and Shep Messing. Instead we are in the presence of an all American team of JP Dellacamera and John Harkes.

JP has worked with ESPN since 1985. He's been the lead commentator for the last three Women's World Cup. JP is the man who called the USA vs China 1999 Women's World Cup penalty kick shootout final. Who can forget hearing " The shot-save, Scurry!" Or you forgot to make room what happen when you mix mentos and a 2 liter soda.

John Harkes made his debut as a soccer commentator this World Cup. One of the most accomplished American soccer players ever, John Harkes was a fixture in the midfield for the National Team as captain in the mid 1990s. He led D.C. United to two MLS titles in '96 and '97. Starred as Ed McIlvenny in the 2005 movie The Game of Their Lives, a film about the United States' historic 1-0 victory over England in the 1950 World Cup. Also in that movie? The oldest son from "Home Improvement" and Gavin Rossedale from the band Bush or husband of Gwen Stefani. In 1994, Harkes appeared on People magazine's annual "The 50 Most Beautiful People" issue. Hard to believe by looking at the picture above.

Babe for the match:
Finally, this is for those who only come to the live soccer blog to look for the babe of the match. Since Will did not provide one in the picture I will help. When I think of Germany, only one supermodel comes to mind. Auf Wiedersehen (Semi SFW)

Anyway, that's how we PUMP YOU UP for some early-morning soccer: It's Ecuador vs Costa Rica. We'll confess, we don't know anyone from either country, but we're kind of rooting for Costa Rica, since they're known as "Tico." That's fine with us.

It's The Mighty MJD once again for us this morning; he has kind of rocked all week, and we can't wait to see what he's got today. When we wake up. Email him your thoughts, follow along in the comments and enjoy, after the jump.

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94:00: And I'm out. Have a good one, everybody.

94:00: And that's it... Ecuador has clinched a spot in the knockout round. Probably a hell of a lot of fun to be in Quito right now. An efficient and entertaining effort by La Tri today. They could be a little bit of a sleeper in the knockout round.

92:33: This beating has been thorough and efficient.

91:42: 3-0 now. Perfect pass there by Mendez, as he was running down the right side... absolutely perfect ball ahead, landing on the foot of Kaviedes, as he was streaking down the middle. Ah, I'll just quote Shep Messing. "It's a thing of beaut-aaaaaaaaaaay!"

89:50: It's a long, slow, death for Costa Rica... plus four minutes of misery-prolonging stoppage time.

86:27: Saborio JUST misses, banging one off the cross bar... some kinda nice work there from the Ticos. Not the prettiest of attack, but it yielded an excellent look at the goal.

85:53: Hey, Ben Roethlisberger was released from the hospital. That's terrific. I wonder if he went home on his motorcycle.

83:50: Substitution for Costa Rica. Now there will be a different guy out there on the field when they lose. Brilliant move.

83:15: Nice long cross, perfectly off the head of Kaviedes, but he pops it well up over top of the goal.

80:53: Ecuador playing keepaway here. This one's all over but the crying.

78:58: Great chance for Ecuador on some more nifty passing. Kaviedes just couldn't put it home. Good save there.

77:10: They do no such thing.

76:29: Costa Rica forces a corner here... they'll need to get something out of this if they want to have any chance to get back in the mix.

74:57: Glenn Davis keeps saying that Costa Rica needs to find some inspiration. I don't know what he wants to happen... I guess they could show Rocky on the Jumbotron, with the Spanish subtitles turned on.

72:48: Valencia is removed from the game, for an emergency hair-relaxing session. Patricio Urrutia comes on.

71:51: A long shot from Hernandez goes wide for the Ticos. They're forcing the action here a little bit.

70:52: Saborio fouls the goalie... despite the fact that the goalie came out and plowed into him. Wanchope also had his first halfway decent look of the game right there.

69:22: Goal into the back of the net for Ecuador, but they guy was offsides. Not by a lot, though. These officials assistants, the guys with the flags, are pretty sharp.

68:01: Hey, he's back on his feet. This guy's a warrior.

67:04: I think Giovanny Espinoza was just taken off on a stretcher for a cramp. I can't be sure, but they were working on him like it was a cramp. And then he got the stretcher. That has to be a first, right?

65:19: It's the wave again. The Germans really love doing the wave.

64:08: Valencia is down... a Costa Rican guy pretty blatantly stepped on his leg. That wasn't very nice.

60:35: Shot by Luis Valencia forces the keeper to make the save... he was knocked down on the shot, and of course, here comes the stretcher. If they did this in basketball, Vlade Divac would've been stretchered out upwards of 20 times per game.

59:45: "Have to love a guy who paints his face for the World Cup, though. Look at him. Nice." - Shep Messing.

59:03: Great run by Mauricio Solis (awesome name, by the way), and he earns a shot on goal for himself. He covered a lot of ground there. I think the shot was off-target anyway.

54:51: Shep Messing's call of that was just ridiculous, by the way... he started yelling, "BANG!" like a drunken John Madden. And Glenn Davis seems not to notice things until 3 or 4 seconds after they've happened.

53:39: SOUL GLO! Delgado scores for La Tri, and it's 2-0. A throw-in and some beautiful passing and flipping... and a great tight shot by Delgado finishes it off. Just beautiful.

52:17: Ecuador finally gets it going in the second, and a lasered shot makes the goalie have to step up and make a play. All set up by a bad giveaway by the Ticos.

49:39: Shot by Ronald Gomez goes just wide for the Ticos... they've looked a little bit sharper here in the second.

48:59: A nice possession for Costa Rica ends with a cross that was a little too deep and handled easily by the keeper.

47:25: Costa Rica looks more determined to attack here, early in the 2nd half.

46:17: Ecuador has started the second half with a substitution... Carlos Tinorio is on the bench, for some reason. I thought he had been playing pretty well. Maybe the coach was mad because he dripped jheri curl juice on the carpet in the locker room.

45:00: That's the half. Carlos Tinorio has the only goal for La Tri. Excellent first half for them, but they should probably have more than one goal. I'll be back for the second. Enjoy Julie Foudy.

45:00: Ecuador just playing with them... and DAMN that was close. Another great cross, I think it actually hit Delgado's foot before he was aware of it. Should've been an easy goal.

44:12: Harold Wallace was open down the sideline there, but the pass to him was deflected, allowing the keeper to come out and get to it first.

43:12: Paolo Wanchope is getting the Shaq treatment. Costa Rica can't get him in any kind of a position to do anything. Also like Shaq, Wanchope is on the team with vastly inferior talent.

41:44: Long cross on the counter by the Ticos, and it JUST misses. The header required a fingertip save by the keeper. That was close.

41:11: Great save by the Costa Rican keeper on a deflected cross. Ecuador's getting at least one more today.

39:09: Carlos Tinorio is getting an earful of trash talk from a bald Costa Rican guy. I think he was telling him how much money he saves on hair care products. Little does he know that Tinorio's home weave products are really taking off.

38:23: Another near chance for Ecuador, as the ball just slid past the foot of Mendez on a run into the box. It's been all Ecuador.

35:51: A long shot for the Ticos... and he hit it hard. I'll say that for it. If there was a goal stacked on top of the goal, this game would be 18-6, Ecuador.

33:17: Free kick for Ecuador, in a nice position. Just outside the corner of the box. Mandez takes it, and puts it high over the top of goal.

30:40: Headed out nicely by Delgado.

30:14: Good ball ahead by Costa Rico, but the Ecuadorian defense is quick to get it out of danger. Corner for the Ticos.

28:05: Substitution for the Ticos already. Out is Danny Fonseca, in is Alvaro Saborio. Striker in for a midfielder. Looking for more offense. Credit to the Costa Rican coach not screwing around and waiting for the second half to do that.

26:27: Nice ball ahead for Wanchope, and it looked good for a second... but a nice job by the Ecuadorian keeper to come up and snag the ball.

24:00: Little tiny bit of token pressure from Costa Rica. Insight from Shep Messing: Ecuador isn't going with a flat back four, because of Paolo Wanchope... they want to give him as little room as possible.

22:33: Corner for La Tri... long shot, over the bar by about 28 feet.

22:05: Ecuador... they're pretty good. They'll be a big underdog against Germany, but... that might be a solid bet.

20:43: Long, sustained possession for Ecuador. Crisp, short, passes... getting into space. And eventually, Douglas Sequira just spikes someone in the foot and forces a free kick.

17:53: Hey, the wave is busted out by the Hamburg crowd. I'd like to make fun of them for being German and lame, but... I still see too damn much of the wave here in America. It's an international problem. The UN should get involved.

15:28: I don't think Shep Messing has said anything extraordinarily dumb yet (you may disagree). His name is still Shep, though.

15:09: Ecuador is just hammering away. Another shot has to be blocked away, from just inside the top of the box. It's been all La Tri here for a while.

12:38: They go short with it. Not much happening there.

12:09: Long shot from Mendes... knocked past the goal line by the keeper, and it's a corner kick.

10:44: Uh-oh. Bad challenge there, and a man is down. Here comes the stretcher, as it does for any hangnail or mild scratch. Tinorio is being carted off. And hey, look, he's back. Good for him. Things like that never happened to, say... Jack Lambert.

7:40: GOOOOOOAL! Goal, Ecuador. It's my man Tinorio... A beautiful little cross from just outside the box goes off his head and into the goal.

7:21: There's a nice cross from Ecuador, just headed it... they keep the pressure on...

6:30: Lots of non-threatening movement here... I think Carlos Tinorio orders Soul Glo by the case.

3:50: Have to say that Costa Rica's had the better of it so far... nothing too significant, but the ball's spent a lot of time in Ecuador's third of the field.

1:46: Nice ball movement for Costa Rica there. Final shot was harmless.

0:53: The Ticos are in a 4-4-2, which I guess is new for them.

0:30: Man, La Tri has a lot of greasy, wavy-haired guys. Who's coaching them, Al B. Sure? Jermaine Jackson. They are letting their Soul Glo, that is for damn sure.

0:00: Thanks to the German blitzkreig of Poland yesterday, one of these teams is getting through to the knockout round. Score one for the little guys.

0:00: No foreign guys this morning. We've been spoiled. Glenn David and Shep Messing. That's a perfect way to ruin someone's morning.

0:00: And on the Costa Rican tip, Paolo Wanchope is the ringleader. Against Germany, he was Bruce Springsteen, and the rest of the team was the E-Street Band. Paulo was a stud. He was actually recruited to play some basketball at Michigan State, but he went with soccer instead. If you're into nicknames, call them the Ticos. I kinda like that. TICOS, MY MAN. They're pretty solid underdogs here.

0:00: Alright, let's get you primed on Ecuador. Agustin Delgado is the star striker. He scored once against Poland, and set up another goal. Edison Mendez is another candidate for some goal scoring. And while it may not be the most star-studded team in the field, they do play some attractive soccer, and clearly, they've shown they have the power to take down some heavyweights. You may call them the Tricolores, if that's your style. La Tri, for short.

They're in Gelsenkirchen, wherever that is, and your live blogger — just a day before he heads to Germany himself — is Mike Cardillo, our man with a soccer plan from That's On Point.

Match is about to begin, so after the jump, join Mr. Cardillo for all the live-blogging you could possibly handle. And definitely feel free to leave your own comments or email us with your thoughts as well.

Final: That's that. Ecuador pulls the upset 2-0 over Poland. Party in Quito. The Polish shame continues. DO NOT TALK TO ANY POLISH FRIENDS TODAY. AND BEWARE OF THEIR HOOLIGANS.

Man of the Match: Ausgustin Delgado — set up the first goal. Sealed it with the second. Imense up top. (Runner up: Giovanny Espinoza, great on the back line.)

We'll let you know that Gelsenkirchen is like first hand, when he arrive in Germany on Sunday or Saturday...not quite sure how that time travel stuff works. Adios crew. (We'll try to send some live video from inside the stadiums, god bless camera phones.)

90 mins: Poles hit the woodwork again. They are Poles Apart today. Hi-oh. Here's another, what sound did it make when it hit the post? Krakow!

89 mins: We get a shot of a despondent Polish fan. She looks like she might make some money on the side, if you catch our drift.

85 mins: Poland hits the bar. Ouch. Could mean a lot for goal differential. Group A is tipped on its head.

84 mins: Interesting point by Suppe. How many column inches were written that Ecuador couldn't win away from Quito and the altitude. (myself included.) I suppose there are more than just two teams — Argentina & Brasil — in South America. Excellent job by Ecuador. Totally outclassed the Poles.

80 mins: GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL. Nice like one-two, slipping behind the defense. Delgado bags it on a feed from Kavieces. 2-0 Ecuador. Our first mild shock of the tournament. Great celebration too. Shooting dice. Holla.

78 mins: Poland lies up yet another free kick. It deflects wide. On the enseuing corner kick Poland hits an absolute rocket. It flies too high. That was a definite chance.

72 mins: This game has gotten really stale. Sort of like Steve Rushin's Borscht Belt humor in SI. ... And of course as soon as I type that Ecuador takes a quick shot that Boruc has to go down to stop.

70 mins: Suppe chimes in with an excellent question. What do the Ecuador players do when they're not playing soccer? Go home and read a good book? Oh and there was a yellow card in there. On Mendez, I think.

66 mins: Ecuador captain Hurtado carried off. ..... and now he's back. (And Tommy is pimping for ESPN Mobile and his blog. Quick piece of trivia, Smythe got his start by buying air time in New York to play Irish folk music. Apparently he still does.)

64 mins: Ecuador takes off Tenerio, the goal scorer for a player described by Adrian Healy as, "the joker in the pack."

61 mins: Delgado breaksthrough for Ecaudor. He looses his footing on a challenge from Jop. Apparently Delgado scored just one goal in three seasons in England with Southhampton.

57 mins Smoralek is tackled off the ball. The Ecuador defense is hard and physical. And they apparently think the Gheri curl is still in fashion. Wow. as I type this, they block yet another shot.

55 mins: The way this game is going, the vaunted Polish hooligans are going to have their knives out from Warsaw to Krakow. (FYI, Barry Bonds is sidelined with a "left side" thanks again bottom line.)

53 mins: Good run from the Poles, but the shot is blocked by a sliding defender. And would you believe it, the Poles waste the corner...AGAIN.

51 mins: Ecuador can't afford to pack it in defensively this early. 1-1 doesn't help either team. They need to go for that second. If they play conservatively, the Poles will likely breakthrough a some point.

49 mins:Tommy Symthe with his first WWII reference about six million Poles killed. Way to be upbeat.

48 mins:Wow. Poland smacked a corner kick all the way across the area and out of bounds. Dreadful stuff from the Poles.

Pre-second half: A couple people with comments on why Jerzy Dudek isn't on the Poland team. Its puzzling. He plays for the best club on any Polish player, Liverpool, however he hardly played. He's classic, just flat out goofy. We miss him. Ok, we'll get going...45 minutes away from the best party ever in Quito.

Halftime: Pretty good game. Poland had its chances. Now to go drink paint and listen to former Women's World Cup winner Julie Foudy. Seriously, how can ESPN air a show starring Stephen A. Smith or employ Pedro Gomez AND not find one quality analyst out there. (Allen Hopkins is a step in the right direction.) We'll be back with some kielbasa and pierogies for half No. 2.

45 mins: Poland has another chance but their dour communist roots prohibit any creativity, thus they aren't doing squat.

42 mins: Face Painter Mora whiffs on a corner. The Poles can't do anything. The Polish free kick taking has been awful.

41 mins: Valencia (aka Ron Artest aka Young Michael Jackson) puts a shot right at Boruc. Save.

40 mins A Polish player is mauled on the edge of hte area. No call. The Poles get a tough break.

39 mins: We get a crowd shot of Poles and Ecuadorians cheering together. And they aren't killing each other with truncheons. (BTW, the Indians have released Scott Sauerback, thanks bottom line.)

36 mins: Yellllllllllllllllllllllllllowwwwwwwwwwwwww Card. Smolarek for Poland, on a hard tackle. Wow...Ecuador puts the longfreekick on net. (Right at the keeper)

34 mins: Poland has a defender named "Bak" which is pronounced "Bonk" remember that game? Tubro Grafx 16 anyone? Anyone?

31 mins: Yellow card. Yellow card. Yellow card. Hurtado on a hard challenge. (Poland doesn't do much with the free kick, again.)

30 mins: Don't count out Poland, although they looked shellshocked. They scored a lot of goals in qualifying. How many? I'm just too lazy to look it up.

28 mins: Should be 2-0. Delgado roofs a sitter right in front of the box after a nifty feed from Tenorio. (Translated, it a very easy chance way too hard over the goal)

25 mins: Can ESPN ditch the bottom line for the Cup? Yes, we all need our WNBA updates, but not during these games.

23 mins: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL

Ecuador scores a pretty nice goal set up from a throw-in. It was chipped into the bock and then Carlos Tenorio puts a head on as helpless keeper Artur Boruc. Somewhere Ivan Putski is weeping.

1-nil to the unfacited South Americans. (We deduct TOP points for the goalie prancing in the box after the score.)

21 mins: Ecuador has its first good chance. The free kick goes a little too deep.

19 mins: So let's get this straight. We have a team speaking Polish playing a team that speaks Spanish with a Japanese referee calling the shots. This has international incident written all over it.

17 mins: As Suppe notes, this is the second time Adrian Healey has mentioned that Ecuador is like the Denver Broncos. The altitude thing. Somewhere soccer purists are cringing. Are the ESPN suits holding him a bayonet point inside the little closet in Bristol they're broadcasting from?

16 mins: Luis Valencia, his hair is dripping like Michael Jackson circa 1983. Terrible.

15 mins: Poland takes an eternity to take a 30 yard free kick. He roofed it. And wasted our valuable time. Thanks pal.

12 mins: They've been talking how if the Cup were played at 8,400+ feet above sea level, the Ecuadorians would win.

11 mins: Poland coach Pawel Jenas, that mean is stern looking. Was he a Communist party operative?

9 mins: Maybe this is why people think soccer is for sissies. The Ecuador keeper has his country's flag painted on both his cheeks. Eisch.

7 mins: It's worth noting that whichever team gets a result here takes a huge step toward advancing out of the group. That's assuming that they both are going to beat Costa Rico, but the Ticos looked downright frisky against the Germans this afternoon.

5 mins: We think, Poland has a player named, "Wackoff," There just might be a joke in there.

4 mins: Tommy Smythe, "I was always under the assumption the ball is round, this one seems rounder." Yike, and we all hate on Dave O'Brien.

2 mins: Well, Poland already has won the game of beautiful women in the stands. And that's all that really matters, right?

Kickoff Hello, Deadspinners. You're looking live at Gelsenkirchen, Germany a big-time coal mining town...about 100 years ago. Think of it as the Pittsburgh of Germany. While it might be dreary, it's home to FC Shalke 04, the people's team..much like the Steelers.. (Added bonus, the sailors from Das Boot were Shalke fans).

Lineups: Poland — GK — Boruc; D: Zellakow, Bascynski, Bak, Jop; Mid: Sobolewski, Smolare, Krynowek, Symkowak; F: Zurawski, Radomski. Ecudaor — GK: Mora Def: Reasco, Espinsoza, Hurtado, de la Cruz Mid: Valencia, Tenorio, Castillo, Mendez F: Delgado, Tenorio

Pregame — Hello Deadspinners. Today we're looking at the second game of the 2006 World Cup Group A play between Poland and Ecuador.

Here's what I said back in February when I wrote a preview for Ecuador.

Worth watching: Even a soccer-phile like myself would find it difficult to watch Ecuador vs. Poland from Gelsenkirchen on June 9, the first day of the tournament. Heavy drinking of "Polish" would need to be invovled.

Oh jeez, was on a one-note song on this? Here I was again in April on Poland.

Worth watching: Meh. The Poles sort of seem like filler, much like the insides of low-grade Kielbasa. (Frankly, even I'm having a tough time getting psyched about Poland/Ecuador or what constitues the inner workings of yummy yummy sausage.)

Well, no Polish here in Cardillo-land, just my faithful attack-cat Percy and Mr. Michael Suppe.

So go grab a cold beverage and a Denver omelette.

And if I start having seizures, its from listening to Julie Foudy and Eric Wynalda the last hour.

Giddy up.

Tzamarenda Naychapi — a priest who practices magic for healing, divination and controlling events — let out a loud scream to chase away evil spirits in the center of the pitch at Leipzig's Zentralstadion on Monday. "I've come to Leipzig to purify this important place for the World Cup and to bring positive energy," said the 36-year-old.

Oh good, for a minute there we thought the whole thing was going to be a farce.

Um, any chance of the shaman making a house call at the new Buzzsaw Cardinals Stadium in Phoenix? Just asking.

Ecuador Shaman Chases Evil Spirits From World Cup [ESPN SoccerNet]
Four Tiny Tidbits On: Ecuador [Deadspin]

• 1. Smells Like Team Spirit. We should probably point out that Ecuador's national team has its own perfume. Um, sorry; cologne. And it's called Dribbling. Totally true: A World Cup soccer team has its own fragrance. Oh, and Dribbling will come in three fragrances: Dribbling Training, Dribbling 9 and Dribbling Celebration. Any chance there will a demand for that third one? We'll see. — (thanks to Trent Apple)

• 2. Heh, Heh, You Said 'Header.' Mike Judge, who is the voice of red-blooded American Hank Hill, as well as Beavis and Butt Head, was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city. Also, remember cutlery expert Lorena Bobbit? Her full name is Lorena Leonor Gallo de Bobbitt, and she was born in 1970 in Bucay, Ecuador. — (thanks to Mike Cardillo)

• 3. "I've Got A Note From My Dad, Man." Ecuadorian striker Ivan Kaviedes briefly went AWOL from his club, Argentinos Juniors, earlier this season. When El Nine eventually showed up back in Argentina, he explained to his bosses that the reason he was gone was that he had travelled to Japan with the Ecuadorian national team for their friendly on March 30. But this was news to Ecuadorian coach Luis Suarez. Oops. Kaviedes apparently forgot that the match in question was televised. — (thanks to Trent Apple).

• 4. High Anxiety, You Win. Ecuador went 8-6-4 in qualifying, including wins over Brazil and Argentina; but seven of its wins came on its home field in Quito, nestled in the Andes mountains. Quito is 9,252 feet above sea level, making it almost twice as high as Invesco Field in Denver. Plus, no snow. — (thanks to Mike Carillo).

(Tomorrow — the Netherlands.)