Prior to Ecuador's 2-0 win over Poland in Gelsenkirchen last Friday, most critics would have argued the South American team owed its place at their second consecutive finals to altitude. In other words, it is hard to get points off Ecuador when you play them in Quito, nearly 8,000 feet up in the Andes.
Ecuador striker Carlos Tenorio argues that, after these finals, everybody will know about his country and not just because of the Andes and the Galapagos Islands. What is for sure is that, in a very weak looking group, a place in the second round is there for the taking and against Costa Rica this afternoon, the Ecuadorians may well take it.
Ecuador's Colombian coach Luis Suarez is likely to field the team that beat Poland, with Tenorio and Augustin Delgado leading the attack. Along with defender Ivan Hurtado both strikers have been undergoing treatment for knocks picked up against Poland but are sure to start.
If the Ecuador camp is bullish, so too is the Costa Rica camp, notwithstanding their 4-2 defeat to Germany. Playmaker Walter Centeno says the team is "confident and bursting with belief", adding: "We played well against Germany especially after we'd conquered our early nerves. We were getting stronger and stronger as the game went on".
That upbeat assessment says much about the optimistic Costa Ricans. History, too, will fuel that optimism since Costa Rica have already beaten Ecuador whilst Costa Rican TV regularly runs replays of the day they beat Scotland at the Italia 90 finals. Costa Rican coach Alexandre Guimares says he will be fielding a more attacking team than against Germany with Ronald Gomez, Paulo Wanchope and Roland Fonseca up front.
Good luck to him, but Ecuador to win
Probable line-ups
Referee: Coffi Codjia (Benin)
Kick-off: 2.0pm
Venue: Stadion Hamburg
On TV: RTÉ 2 and UTV
Ecuador (4-4-2)
Mora; De la Cruz, Hurtado, Espinoza, Reasco; Mendez, Edwin Tenorio, Castillo, Valencia; Delgado, Carlos Tenorio
Coach: Luis Fernando Suarez
Costa Rica (4-3-3)
Porras; Marin, Umana, Drummond, Gonzales; Solis, Centeno, Sequeira; Fonseca, Gomez, Wanchope
Coach: Alexandre Guimaraes
