Ecuador advances to World Cup knockout rounds, beats Germany

A little flick of Gonzalo Plata’s big toe helped Ecuador make a great escape.Plata poked the ball past Manuel Neuer in the 77th minute and lifted Ecuador to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Germany on Thursday and into the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time since 2006.

“Life is different now. We suffered a lot,” said Plata, a 25-year-old winger who scored his ninth international goal. “We suffered too much in the first two matches. We would have liked to secure qualification much earlier, but now we’re going forward more hungry, knowing we have to give it our all.” Ecuador, which has lost only one of its last 22 games, finished third in Group E with four points and advanced past the group stage for the second time, headed to a possible matchup with Mexico on Tuesday in Mexico City.

A four-time champion already assured of advancement by winning its first two games, Germany will play its round of 32 game Monday at Foxborough, Massachusetts, most likely against Paraguay, Australia or Sweden. “On Monday it’s important that we start well,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said through a translator.
Germany’s winning streak was stopped at 11 games, one shy of the team record set in 1979-80.

“The difference was today that the opponent wanted to win more than us, and you could really feel it, especially in the second half,” Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich said.
Germany went ahead on Leroy Sane’s second-minute goal. Aleksandar Pavlovic chested the ball and ended up kicking Pedro Vite in the head following Nathaniel Brown’s throw-in, but American referee Tori Penso didn’t whistle a foul. Pavlovic passed to Florian Wirtz, who centred to Sane just inside the penalty area to beat goalkeeper Hernan Galindez.