Miroslav Klose celebrated his 28th birthday with two goals as

Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 at the World Cup opener in Munich on Friday.

 

Klose, who scored five goals in the last World Cup four years ago to lead Germany to the final, scored the hosts' second and third goals.

 

Klose, who was voted Player of the Match afterwards, was happy with the two goals.

 

"I am very lucky today," he said. "I am very happy, and very proud of the goals."

 

Germany head coach Juergen Klinsmann was all praise for the striker.

 

"Klose has grown to be a leader in the team," Klinsmann said. "We are very proud of him as he scored twice on his birthday."  

 

The hosts went ahead only six minutes into the game. Left back Philipp Lahm stepped in on to his right foot and unleashes a shot from the edge of the box which arrows into the top corner for the World Cup's first goal.

 

Costa Rica striker Paulo Wanchope made it 1-1 only six minutes later, beating an offside trap and German goalkeeper Jens Lehmannto score the equalizer.

 

Germany retook the lead in the 17th minute. Bastian Schweinsteiger bursted on to Bernd Schneider's pull back from the byline on the right and his cross was tapped home by the unmarked Klose.

 

The first German goal scorer combined with the second for the third goal for the hosts. Lahm crossed from the left and, after seeing his initial header parried by Jose Porras, Klose blast home the rebound.

 

But Costa Rica refused to sit back and wait for a defeat. Walter Centano opened up the German defence and sent a beautiful chip into the area, where Wanchope, the most active player through the match, poked the ball past Lehmann.

 

Torsten Frings killed off the game for Germany three minutes from time as he blast a fierce shot from around 30 meters into the top corner of the net to make it 4-2.

 

Klinsmann was not very satisfied with the results because his side made too many errors but he said that getting three points is enough for the squad.

 

"We were a little bit nervous. We made some mistakes, but they happen," Klinsmann said. "We can draw a lot of positives from this game. We are happy to have away with our first three points."  

 

Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes said: "I would be happier if we had scored one more goal. After the match I am confident that we can beat Ecuador in the next match. We have a chance."  

 

German captain Michael Ballack sit out the game due to a calf strain and Bernd Schneider replaced him to wear the skipper's armband.

 

Germany will play their second Group A match against Poland on June 15 in Dortmund. Poland will open their campaign against Ecuador later on Friday.

 

Klinsmann confirmed that Ballack will be available to face Poland.

 

German President Horst Koehler declared the 18th edition of the World Cup open after a 30-minute opening ceremony. A total of 32 teams are competing in 12 cities of Germany with the finals scheduled in Berlin on July 9.

 

"Finally it's starting. We're really looking forward to four weeks of football, football, football," Koehler told a sell-out crowd of 66,000.

 

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2006)