Germans Plot Costa Rica's Downfall as World Cup Nears Kick-Off
The waiting is almost over. Nearly six years after Germany was awarded the 2006 World Cup, the world's biggest soccer spectacle is ready to kick-off in Munich todaywith the hosts playing Costa Rica in the first game.

Since that ecstatic night in Zurich on July 6, 2000 when Franz Beckenbauer's glitzy team of soccer legends, celebrities and politicians won the right to stage the tournament, enough column inches have been written on Germany's preparations to stretch from Berlin to San Jose. Now the real action starts.

Germany remains confident that their first opponents will not spoil the opening party. Assistant coach Joachim Löw revealed earlier in the week that the staff and players had studied DVDs of the Central Americans' warm-up matches and that the belief was that the hosts would get their World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

"It is the first match and we are a bit nervous but we have done our homework and I think we are in a position to beat Costa Rica," Löw told reporters. "If we turn up and show our strengths we will win the match."

Germany manager Jürgen Klinsmann has forced all of his players to watch clips of their opponents and Löw claims Costa Rica were no longer an unknown quantity.

"We have collected a lot of information on them by watching DVD clips of league games and international matches," said Löw. "We know their strengths and weaknesses but of course we will not be discussing them in public."