Cup fever breaks out after Germany romp

World Cup fever broke out in Germany when the hosts romped to a convincing 3-0 victory over Ecuador on Tuesday, sparking wild celebrations and a surge of optimism in their chances of capturing the trophy.

Germany next play Sweden in Munich on Saturday in the first match of the knockout stage. The Scandinavians advanced with a 2-2 draw against England in an action-packed game in Cologne where there were two late goals.

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In Berlin's Olympiastadion, before a partisan crowd of 72,000 wildly cheering fans, Germany outplayed an Ecuador side who had won their previous two Group A games without conceding a goal.

The South Americans were unable to compete with a German team growing in confidence with every match.

Polish-born striker Miroslav Klose scored in the fourth and 44th minutes, making him the tournament's leading scorer with four goals. Lukas Podolski made it three in the 57th.

The victory provoked a wave of euphoria throughout the country and 700,000 fans began partying on the "fan mile" at the capital's Brandenburg Gate where many had watched the match on giant screens.

Coach Juergen Klinsmann, much criticised in the build-up to the finals because of the team's poor form, heard his name chanted by the supporters for the first time in the competition after his side finished top of Group A with three successive wins.

DELIGHTED KLINSMANN

A delighted Klinsmann declared an outbreak of World Cup fever.

"When you play at home you have the crowd behind you and that gives the players an extra push," he said. "It's World Cup fever."

England's draw put them top of Group B, giving Sven-Goran Eriksson's men a second-round fixture with Ecuador in Stuttgart on Sunday.

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Eriksson's team began well against a side they had not beaten in 11 encounters since 1968. They took the lead in the 34th minute with a spectacular long-range shot from Joe Cole.

Sweden equalised after 51 through Marcus Allback, the 2,000th goal in World Cup finals history.

England had striker Michael Owen carried off in the opening minutes with a bad knee injury but seemed to have the game wrapped up when substitute Steven Gerrard scored five minutes from time.

Henrik Larsson, though, equalised for Sweden in the last minute.

In the other Group A game between two teams already out, Poland salvaged pride with a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in Hanover.

Defender Bartosz Bosacki scored twice for Poland after Costa Rica had taken the lead through Ronald Gomez.

Both teams had lost their earlier matches to Germany and Ecuador.

Paraguay, out of contention for the knockout stage, beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 in the other Group B game in Kaiserslautern thanks to a 25th-minute Brent Sancho own goal and a late strike by Nelson Cuevas.

The result ended the Caribbean team's remote chances of reaching the last 16 at their first World Cup.