Berlin, June 20 :

Hosts Germany made it three wins in a row as they beat Ecuador 3-0 to finish atop Group A in Berlin today.

Miroslav Klose became the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals. First he put the Germans ahead early on by firing home from close range and then easily netted in a Michael Ballack chip before Lucas Podolski slided home to wrap up the game. There were no prizes for guessing which team was taking this match the most seriously. Ecuador’s leading World Cup marksman Agustin Delgado was one of five players rested as the South Americans kept one eye on round two, while Germany were almost at full strength.

Knee injury victim Christoph Metzelde was the only absentee for the Germans, replaced by Chelsea’s Robert Huth. Despite soaring temperatures, the match started at fast pace. German Chancellor Angela Markel also watched the match.

Miroslav Klose grabbed his third goal of the tournament and Germany’s first of the match in the fourth minute drilling the ball home from midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger’s pass, sending the crowd into raptures.

After scoring the first goal, Germany became more patient with Ecuadorians waiting for the hosts to commit mistake. In the 15th minute, Klose had a chance to increase the tally but he failed to reach a pass from Philip Lahm.

With the conditions dictating the pace of the game, it became pedestrian with Germany bursting forward once in a while. In the 18th minute, there was another chance for Germany when defender Ulises De La Cruz was caught napping, allowing Schweinsteiger to float one into the box, but Bernd Schneider’s effort flew into the crowd.

Klose fired another on a volley but the ball went above the cross bar. The Germans failed to convert the chances, while it became difficult for the Ecuadorians to enter the German box with Germans getting physical in their approach.

In the 44th minute, Klose grabbed number two, coolly rounding the keeper and slotting into an empty net after Michael Ballack’s excellent flick took out two defenders.

In the second half, Germany came again blazing with midfielder Bernd Schneider in Ecuador’s penalty area, but the yellow-shirted defenders swarmed around him, forcing him to pull it back to Schweinsteiger whose shot was weak.

Moments later, Ecuador came back with Edwin Tonorio finding himself space and let rip from 35-yards out, forcing a back-peddling German keeper Jens Lehmann to hurriedly punch the ball over.

Lukas Podolski finally ended his goal drought when Bernd Schneider set up the striker for a neat half volley, following good work from Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 57th minute. It was a big relief for Podolski, who has come under intense criticism from press on his inability to score. In the 62nd, Ecuador coach Luis Suarez took off Luis Antonio and sent in Christian Lara, who at 5ft 3in, is the shortest player in the World Cup.

German coach Juergen Klin-smann made a double substitutions, replacing Miroslav Klose and Torsten Frings with Oliver Neuville and Tim Borowski. With tiredness taking over the players, crowd kept itself entertained with Mexican waves in a carnival like atmosphere in Berlin.

Painuly is an Editorial Consultant with The Himalayan Times and is writing exclusively for THT from Germany.