Everybody goes home

Ecuador upsets Croatia 1-0 as both are eliminated

Carlos Tenorio (left) battles Croatia's Dario Simic for the ball. AP

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- Edison Mendez scored in the second half as Ecuador upset Croatia 1-0 in Thursday's Group G encounter, winning its first game at the World Cup finals and sending the Croats out of the tournament.

Croatia, semifinalists in France four years ago, had three good chances in the first half but couldn't get the goal it desperately needed.

Mendez drilled a right-foot shot from close range in the 48th minute, latching onto Agustin Delgado's header off Ulises De la Cruz' pinpoint cross from near the left corner flag.

It was Mendez' first and Ecuador's second goal in the World Cup finals.

"Everyone in Ecuador should celebrate because it's a great joy, we won our first World Cup game," Mendez said. "We played poorly in the first game, but we recovered and won a match."

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Mexico won the group with seven points after tying Italy 1-1 in a match played simultaneously in Oita. The Italians finished second with four points, followed by Croatia and Ecuador with three.

Milan Rapaic went close to getting the equalizer but his free kick from 25 meters was headed wide by an Ecuadorean in the defensive wall.

Daniel Saric got into a one-on-one situation with Ecuador 'keeper Jose Cevallos but was called off side and then replacement midfielder Davor Vugrinec slammed a right-foot strike well over the crossbar in the 83rd minute.

Brilliant reflexes by veteran midfielder Alex Aguinaga got the ball off his goal line from a powerful Croatian header two minutes later as the Ecuadorans clung to their slender lead.

Croatia, needing to win to make the second round, had the best chance in a dour first half, with Middlesbrough striker Alen Boksic hitting the outside of the left upright with a left-foot strike in the 34th minute.

Boksic had another chance four minutes later when he was running clear in the goal square, but he didn't get a chance to fire on goal before he was stopped in a brilliant, diving tackle by Ecuador defender Ivan Hurtado.

Boksic got a third chance in first-half injury time when his gentle chip over Ecuador 'keeper Jose Cevallos was cleared with a Augusto Poroso's desperate header.

Stat Summary Ecuador     Croatia  1  Goals  0  10  Shots  10  4  Shots on goal  5  21  Fouls  18  4  Corner kicks  8  0  Penalty kicks  0  2  Offsides  3  0  Own goals  0  1  Yellow cards  2  0  Red cards  0  52%  Ball possession  48%  31  Actual playing time  29     Attendance: 65,862     MATCH SUMMARY

Mendez had the only shot on target for Ecuador, but his right-foot shot from 20-meters (yards) was held on the second grab by Croatian 'keeper Stipe Pletikosa in the 24th minute.

Croatia coach Mirko Jozic fielded an offensive-minded team.

Inter Milan defender Dario Simic was called into the starting lineup to replace the injured Zvonimir Soldo, while Ivica Olic, who went on as a substitute to score Croatia's first goal in a 2-1 victory over Italy in the last match, got a starting role up front instead of Davor Vugrinec. Olic is expected to inject more pace and venom to the attack.

The Ecuadorans, who were winless after two matches, had only a mathematical chance of making it through to the next round. The

Croatia could theoretically have qualified with a small loss if Mexico had beaten Italy in match being played at the same time.

Summary

Ecuador 1 Croatia 0 - result

World Cup, group G

Scorer: Edison Mendez 48

Yellow cards:

Ecuador - Cleber Chala 86

Croatia - Stjepan Tomas 72, Josip Simunic 90

Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 65,862

Teams:

Ecuador (4-4-2): 1-Jose Cevallos; 4-Ulises De la Cruz, 3-Ivan Hurtado, 2-Augusto Porozo, 6-Raul Guerron; 15-Marlon Ayovi, 5-Alfonso Obregon (10-Alex Aguinaga 40), 16-Cleber Chala, 19-Edison Mendez; 18-Carlos Tenorio (9-Ivan Kaviedes 76), 11-Agustin Delgado

Croatia (4-3-2-1): 1-Stipe Pletikosa; 15-Daniel Saric (13-Mario Stanic), 21-Robert Kovac, 3-Josip Simunic, 17-Robert Jarni; 4-Stjepan Tomas, 20-Dario Simic (7-Davor Vugrinec 52), 10-Niko Kovac (16-Jurica Vranjes 59); 18-Ivica Olic, 5-Milan Rapaic; 11-Alen Boksic

Referee: William Mattus (Costa Rica)

Linesmen: Miguel Giacomuzzi (Paraguay), Roland Van Nylen (Belgium)

 

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