Poland beaten 'emotionally and physically' as Ecuador upset odds

Ecuador 2

Tenorio (24) Delgado (80)

Poland 0

ECUADOR produced the first shock of the World Cup in the tournament's second match when they beat Poland with goals in each half by Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado in Group A of the World Cup in Gelsenkirchen last night.

After Tenorio scored in the 24th minute, Ecuador had to show terrific defensive fortitude to hold off the Poles in the second half. But Delgado settled it with ten minutes remaining.

"We can celebrate a victory but we must concentrate also on the next Group A match (with Costa Rica on Thursday)," Delgado said. "We worked hard and got our reward."

It was only Ecuador's second competitive win away from the rarefied atmosphere of Quito since the last World Cup but if they repeat it against Costa Rica next week they could reach the second round even if they lose to Germany in their final game.

For Poland it was a painful repeat of four years ago when they opened with a 2-0 defeat by hosts South Korea and failed to progress to the last 16. To the huge disappointment of their colourful and noisy fans, they could be set for another early flight home having failed to score in their opening match for the fifth time in a row. It was not a situation that appeared likely in the first 20 minutes as the Poles looked confident and controlled. However, as they failed to trouble goalkeeper Christian Mora, Ecuador also settled into their game and were rewarded with a well-created goal in the 24th minute.

Former Hibs player Ulises De La Cruz launched a long throw into the box, Delgado flicked it on and Tenorio timed his run perfectly to glance a header past Artur Boruc, whose Celtic team-mate Maciej Zurawski also started for the Poles.

Poland looked more dangerous after the break but the final ball was too often loose and the athletic Ecuadorian back line proved adept at soaking up the pressure. Then, as the Poles pushed forward they were caught out by substitute Ivan Kaviedes who broke on the right and rolled the ball for Delgado to touch into an empty net. It was four years to the day that Delgado scored Ecuador's first ever goal at a World Cup finals.

Poland continued to press but knew it was not their night when substitute Ireneusz Jelen smacked a shot against the bar and Pawel Brozek saw his curling effort rebound from a post.

"We are not in a comfortable situation going into the German game," said Poland coach Pawel Janas. "We have to pull ourselves together because today we have been beaten up both emotionally and physically."

Poland: Boruc, Jop, Baszczynski, Bak, Zewlakow, Sobolewski (Jelen 67), Krzynowek (Kosowski 77), Szymkowiak, Smolarek, Radomski, Zurawski (Brozek 84). Subs not used: Bosacki, Dudka, Fabianski, Gancarczyk, Giza, Kuszczak, Lewandowski, Mila, Rasiak.

Ecuador: Mora, De la Cruz, Hurtado (Guagua 69), Espinoza, Reasco, Mendez, Castillo, Valencia, E Tenorio, Delgado (Urrutia 83), C Tenorio (Kaviedes 65). Subs not used: Ambrossi, Ayovi, Benitez, Borja, Lanza, Lara, Perlaza, Saritama, Villafuerte.