LiveBlog: Poland-Ecuador

Ecuador 2-0 Poland
Thank you all for reading and commenting! I had a blast, and hope you did too. 62 matches to go! Keep checking back with World Cup Blog for all the best news and views on this greatest of tournaments.

Fulltime. Wow, what a match for Ecuador. It certainly didn’t have the fireworks of the Germany-Costa Rica game, but what a huge result for La Tricolor. Ecuador 2-0 Poland.

90:00+ Ecua fans are being heard in the stadium.

90:00+ Poland are game and won’t quit, but time is slipping away. Ecuador defense comes up big again.

90:00 Poland denied by the woodwork again! Crazy.

89:20 Poland free kick cleared again by the Ecua defense.

88:10 Not much time left for Poland to try and get a result. Ecuador have played very well to this point. Props to Suarez to this point. but it’s not over!

86:55 Corner for Poland. Still threatening to notch one back, but it’s cleared.

85:15 Poland denied by the post! So close!

84:40 Ecuador corner harmlessly cleared by Poland, who are headed the other way.

83:31 Shot by Ebi saved by Mora, who hasn’t been that challenged today.

82:04 Oh my. What a play. Patient play from Ecuador leading to a great goal. And hey, maybe it wasn’t a golazo, but I was excited.

80:00 GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Golazo de Agustin Delgado! Assist from Kaviedes!!! Ecuador 2-0 Poland.

76:39 Free kick for Poland. Out for a corner. No trouble.

74:50 Mora owes the defense dinner to tonight, win, lose or draw. The defense has made mistakes, but saved a lot of dicey situations.

73:40 Reasco saves the day again. But Poland win the throw in.

72:07 Kaviedes’s first touches have not been solid, although there have only been a couple. Nice shot by Mendez, though it was saved. And there was an offside. But still.

71:05 Less than twenty minutes to go. Can Poland take advantage of Hurtado’s injury?

70:00 Yellow card for Edison Mendez for some thing or another.

69:01 Hurtado still limping. And I’d say grimicing as well, except that he always looks like he’s grimicing. And there he goes. Jorge Guagua comes on in relief for Hurtado.

67:25 Poland makes some offenseive-minded substitutions, trying to intensify their attack. They of course desperately need a result in this match.

66:30 Hurtado back on the field. Tommy Smyth details his own blogging credentials.

65:33 Ecuador are down to 10 men as Hurtado gets attended to.

64:48 It goes without saying that losing Hurtado would be a mammoth blow for Ecuador. Carlos Tenorio leaves the field and is replaced by Ivan Kaviedes. Let’s see if El Nine has anything.

63:10 Now Hurtado’s down and wincing in pain. Medics are on the field.

61:50 Delgado nearly scooches through in the Poland box. That sounds naughtier than I meant it to.

60:20 If I’m Coach Luis Suarez, I’m worried that Poland are going to just take target practice until one scoots through. And that’s no way to go through life, son.

59:30 Carlos Tenorio is limping, and that ain’t good. Stays on the pitch, however.

58:46 A close shot for Poland blocked by Bam Bam Hurtado. Poland really seem like their knocking on the door of the Ecuador goal.

57:55 Another throw in for Ecuador as they counter attack once agains. But the chance is lost harmlessly.

56:25 Reasco forward for Ecuador. Throw in coming. Random pointing makes an appearance.

55:20 Getting a little sloppy in Gelsenkirchen.

53:49 Headed away without danger. Still, Poland is doiing a better job at keeping up their attack.

53:01 Ecuador seem content to wait for the counterattack. Corner kick for Poland.

51:40 Poland just offside, taking away a goal. Still 1-0 Ecuador.

51:15 Poland threatens, but Ecuador pushes it out again. Let’s hope that Ecuador don’t just sit back and try to run out the clock. That won’t work so early.

49:30 Neither team putting a whole lot together at this point.

48:25 I miss Tommy Smyth’s Highbury squirrel. Call me nostalgic.

48:01 Corner kick for Poland. Striaght out of bounds for a goal kick.

47:13 Free kick by Mendes taken in by Borus with little trouble.

46:18 Nice defense by Ecuador. At this point, they are not panicking at all when things get dicey.

45:00 Here we go! Ecuador kicks off.

Second half begins. An interesting first half. Poland took early control, but Ecuador slowly fought back, settled down, and had the better run of play. As I say, though, one goal isn’t much of a lead. Especially with those remote-controlled beachballs they’re using this year.

Halftime. A nice half for Ecuador, althoug a mere 1 goal lead is no dire circumstance for the Poles. What are your thoughts on the first half?

I should say that, after my dig at El Tin earlier, that he did get the assist on Tenorio’s goal. My apologies Tin!

45:00 That’s the first stanza. Ecuador 1-0 Poland.

44:48 Another corner for Poland, even though it was probably a goal kick situation. Punched out by Mora.

43:33 Mora gets a talking to from the ref for time wasting. no card, though.

41:56 Ecuador still looking calm and cool after their jittery opening. But here’s a free kick for Poland, which results in a corner. A close call for Mora, but a goal kick is set.

41:29 Nearing halftime. The Polish fans in the audience aren’t very pleased. A goal given up now by Ecuador could be really demoralizing.

39:45 Still 1-0 Ecuador. Ecuador back on the counterattack.

39:02 To answer, I thought the face paint was Ecuador’s colors. Could be mistaken.

38:00 Poland on the attack now. Throw in near the Ecua goal. Dangerous ball, but cleared for now.

36:40 Free kick taken by Edison Mendez. The ref chats with the wall. Nice shot, but gathered by the keeper after a weird bounce.

35:57 Smolarek gets a yellow for challenging Edwin Tenorio.

35:21 “Ecuador in command” says the announcer.

34:25 Carlos Tenorio is everywhere for Ecuador. Where is El Tin today? Besides missing sitters?

33:25 Still fairly even play, although Ecuador has evened out the time of possession.

32:30 A corner for Ecuador. Header goes wide; goal kick for Poland.

31:19 I just noticed that Ecua keeper Mora is wearing face paint. Cool. i’m sure FIFA will convene at halftime to outlaw such shows of patriotism and exuberance.

30:47 Yelloow card for Ecua Capt. Ivan Hurtado for a bad tackle.

30:00 Free kick for Ecuador. Hurtado goes short with it. Poles get possession.

28:58 Ecuador out-shooting Poland 4-1. Still, El Tin really missed a sitter there. SHould be 2-0. But it’s still 1-0.

27:10 Delgado missed a six yarder. Sooo close!

26:20 Some nice possession play for Ecuador. Ecuas look a little emboldened by the goal. 1-0 Ecuador.

25:06 I would mention that I predicted that Carlos Tenorio would score first in this match, but that just seems like bragging, doesn’t it?

23:44 GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL!!!!! Super Teno!!!!! Carlos Tenorio with a great header off of a de la Cruz throw in. 1-0 Ecuador

21:20 Free kick for Ecuador 15 yards past midfield. C. Tenorio nearly squeezes through, but a push was called.

20:10 Poland still getting the most possession, but it’s mostly back and forth. Aren’t we supposed to have 3 goals by now in this match?

19:06 Awesome tackle by Espinoza. Ecuas on the counter attack.

18:03 Free kick for Poland, knocked out by Ecuador for a Polish corner kick.

17:00 A dangerous run by C. Tenorio, but the keeper collects. Bak not playing too well for the Poles in the back. As it were.

16:14 A quick Poland run ends in a goalkick for Ecuador.

15:30 The announcers are still talking about the new ball. At least no one is saying “roundier” anymore.

13:45 Free kick for Poland in a dangerous position. Taking their sweet time. Waaaay over the goal.

13:21 A lot of time being spent in the midfield. Still 0-0.

12:21 Sobolewski greets Carlos Tenorio in kind. Ouch.

11:05 Ebi makes a nice play for the Poles headed toward the Ecua goal, but eventually kicks it out of bounds for a throw in.

10:24 Another nice shot by Castillo for Ecuador, bur Boruc brings it in without trouble. Still 0-0.

9:15 Ecuador is the Denver Broncos of soccer, we are told. Okay. Ecuador are now gaining some more control. Looks pretty even right now.

8:15 Carlos Tenorio’s elbow finds the Polish captain.

7:35 Ecuador need to push the ball up more down the sides. Did I mention those yellow boots? Style!

6:25 Poland win the first corner of the match, after a nice run. Punched out by Mora. Poland still threatening, and then it’s cleared.

5:30: Valencia’s shot goes wide left after a nice run.

4:22: Tommy Smyth just used the word “roundier.”

3:00: Poland have controlled the ball early, though no chances have developed.

1:26: We’re under way in Glesenkirchen. Several Ecuas are wearing bright yellow boots. Very bright yellow.

0:00: And we’re off!

Aaaaany minute now. And to the commenter below, Musberger isn’t calling the game in the US; just giving us some pre-taped blather.

Probable Lineups:

Ecuador:
Cristian Mora
Ulises de la Cruz, Ivan Hurtado, Giovanni Espinoza, Neicer Reasco
Segndo Castillo, Edwin Tenorio, Edison Mendez, Antonio Valencia
Carlos Tenorio, Agustin Delgado

Poland:
Artur Boruc
Jacek Bak, Mariusz Jop, Michal Zewlakow, Marcin Baszczynski
Jacek Krzynowek, Arkadiusz Radomski, Miroslav Szymkowiak, Radoslav Sobolewski, Ebi Smolarek
Maciej Zurawski

2 minutes. Can either of these teams successfully put their 2002 first-round crash-outs in the rearview mirror today?

5 minutes to go. Getting jittery with excitement.

10 minutes to go. So, do you guys think we’ll see 6 goals again?

15 mintues til kickoff. Right now I’m watching the ESPN2 US feed. Their chatterers are intimating that Poland and Ecuador will be fighting it out for second place behind Germany, which seems about right. Oh ,dear: now Brent Musburger is going on about Ecuador’s homefield advantage in Quito. If Poland wins, you’ll be hearing even more about this in the coming weeks.

Only 25 minutes to go, and my Ecuador shirt just arrived on my front porch. That’s gotta be a sign, right?

Which means it’s a good time to note that my day blogging job is over at the Ecuador blog. So, I do have a rooting interest, but still have much love for Polska.

30 minutes til kickoff. I hope you all feel free to leave your comments and observations below during the match. I think there’s a consensus feeling that this is going to be an unsually good tournament. Certainly the first game lends credence to this collective hunch. Cross your fingers!

One hour to go! What a cracker the opening match between Group A teams Germany and Costa Rica turned out to be. Let’s hope this one is as entertaining.

Pregame: Kickoff is only a few hours away!

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