Ecuador - 2 Poland - 0: Perhaps it down to the fact that they were still smarting over how few of them had been able to make it along to witness the team's heroics here 32 years ago, but the Polish supporters pretty much cornered the market in tickets for their side's opening game of this World Cup in Gelsenkirchen last night.
Far from the thrilling 3-2 win over Argentina their few privileged predecessors had witnessed in Stuttgart, all they got for their trouble was an agonising night of near things and missed opportunities as Ecuador proved they do not need their opponents to be starved of oxygen in order to win and the Poles played as if that was precisely their problem.
For the few thousand Ecuadorian fans, who - in their yellow shirts bore a striking resemblance to the last butter in a tub - it was night of considerable joy and a win over Costs Rica could well now be enough to see them into the second round. For all the heroics at the back here, though, you would be hard pressed to imagine them surviving an encounter with one of the better side's from England's group.
Numerical supremacy of this scale in the stands is supposed to count for something, but the South Americans looked entirely unfazed as the bulk of the crowd cheered and cajoled their team through the opening stages.
Encouraged, no doubt, by the noise, Pawel Janas's men did start brightly, dominating the early possession and repeatedly pressing their opponents back to the edge of their area. It didn't take long, however, before their inability to finish what they were so effectively starting became apparent and you began to wonder quite how they had managed to find the net with such regularity in the qualifiers.
Their real problems, however, only began as Ecuador gradually settled and clearly sensed defensive shortcomings too.
Having sacrificed a striker so as to play an extra man in midfield, Janas must have hoped that his side would cope well with Ecuador's attempts to push the ball forward along the flanks at speed.
On one side of the pitch they did well enough, but as the first half wore on they repeatedly found themselves in trouble as the Ecuadorian right back, Ulises De La Cruz, repeatedly swept past his team-mate, Luis Valencia, to provide an overlap.
Jacek Krzynowek looked largely helpless to intervene while, behind him, Michal Zewlakov was finding the pressure a little hard to cope with. Ecuador's best chance during this spell actually came from a poorly judged backward header by Jacek Bak. Artur Boruc did well to get to it ahead of Carlos Tenario, but there was a growing sense that things were about to go wrong for the Europeans.
Carlos Tenario, as it happens, risked becoming the first player in the tournament to be sent off when, in the 22nd minute, he sought to turn a deflected free-kick in with his arm at the far post. Instead, he put the South Americans in front two minutes later, heading home impressively after Agustin Delgado had flicked on De La Cruz's throw towards the six yard box.
Janas watched and waited for a response from his men, but early in the second half he decided to make things happen - the replacement of Radoslaw Sobolewski prompting a switch to the 4-4-2 system that had helped his side run the English close in qualifying.
In a rather evenly balanced and sometimes exciting contest, the Poles continued to generate chances, but the Ecuadorian defenders continued to throw themselves about with sufficient effect to prevent their goalkeeper having to make much by way of saves.
Had they had to chase just one goal until the end, you suspected they might well have salvaged the point that would, this morning, make their prospects of reaching the knockout stages a whole lot brighter. At the back, though, they never looked entirely on top of the job against a strong and mobile attack.
Eventually, it was a mistimed attempt to catch Ecuador offside that cost them with Agustin Delgado eventually getting to tap the ball home after Marcin Baszczynski had played Ivan Kaviedes on.
Two of the three Polish subs, Jelen Ireneusz and Pawel Brozek, hit the woodwork during the closing stages as they desperately chased the game, but there was to be no fairytale comeback.
In the stands, their supporters sat stunned as the defeat was confirmed by the ref.
In all likelihood, it will take a win over their bitter rivals Germany to save them now.
They will not, at least, want for motivation.
REPLACEMENTS
ECUADOR: Kaviedes for C Tenorio (65 mins), Guagua for Hurtado (69 mins), Urrutia for Delgado (83 mins). Subs Not Used: Ambrossi, Ayovi, Benitez, Borja, Lanza, Lara, Perlaza, Saritama, Villafuerte. Booked: Hurtado, Mendez.
POLAND: Jelen for Sobolewski (68 mins), Kosowski for Krzynowek (77 mins), Brozek for Zurawski (84 mins). Subs Not Used: Bosacki, Dudka, Fabianski, Gancarczyk, Giza, Kuszczak, Lewandowski, Mila, Rasiak. Booked: Smolarek.
Referee: H Yoshikazu (Japan).
