Paulo Wanchope also scored two goals for Costa Rica, while Philipp Lahm and
Torsten Frings added the others for Germany.
Lahm, a defender still wearing a special brace after surgery on his left
elbow three weeks ago, curved in a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the
sixth minute to put Germany ahead. The ball squeezed into the upper right corner
of the net after Lahm cut in and got the space he needed when Luis Marin
slipped.
"I was lucky to hit the ball just right on my goal," Lahm said.
That should have been the instant lift Germany needed, but Costa Rica stunned
the hosts in the 12th minute. Veteran striker Wanchope beat the German offside
trap and coolly slipped the ball past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Suddenly, it was 1-1, and Germany's young and inexperienced defense was
exposed.
"Everybody saw that we showed there are no easy rivals", Wanchope said. "In
spite of our limited resources, we made a good presentation."
It didn't take Germany long to recover, though.
Bernd Schneider broke through on the right side and passed to Bastian
Schweinsteiger, who sent a crisp pass to the far post for Klose to knock in
after 17 minutes.
It was the fastest three goals scored in a World Cup opener.
In the 61st, Klose's header was saved by goalkeeper Jose Porras, but the
Bundesliga's leading scorer fired the rebound high into the net — and Germany
seemed safe.
Not quite, as Wanchope got his second in the 73rd, again beating the offside
trap. A through pass caught Germany's central defenders Per Mertesacker and
Christoph Metzelder flat-footed. Wanchope shrugged off a late challenge by Arne
Friedrich to beat Lehmann for the second time.
"We can't keep conceding so many goals," said Lahm.
"The goals we conceded were our own fault," added Klose. "We must recover
better after losing possession."
Torsten Frings clinched the win in the 87th with a wicked 30-yard shot that
gave relief to an entire country. The capacity crowd of 66,000 gave the German
team a standing ovation as it saluted the fans.
Ballack, recovering from a calf injury, said he wanted to play, and Klinsmann
had to talk him out of it.
"We were of different opinions, he had to stop me," Ballack said.
"I am really pleased by the way the team did it. It's always difficult in the
opening match. We scored two sensational goals, four goals, that's always
strong."
