TRICOLORES ADVANCE KAVIEDES PUT THE FINISHING TOUCH ON WIN ECUADOR 3, COSTA RICA 0.

Byline: SCOTT FRENCH Staff Writer

HAMBURG, Germany -- Ivan Kaviedes had an urgent message to deliver, but the ball, or the linesman, or the opposing goalkeeper would not cooperate. Three times, the Ecuador forward raced into Costa Rica's box, and three times he was left shaking his head.

Then, with the seconds running down on the biggest victory in the Tricolores' humble history, everything fell into place. A through ball, a cross, and Kaviedes was volleying home, completing a 3-0 triumph at AOL Arena that sent the Ecuadoreans, in only their second World Cup, through to the final 16.

They dragged Germany along with them -- the first two teams to qualify for the knockout phase, joined a few hours later by England -- and will take on the Cup host Tuesday for first place in Group A.

Ecuador, which has shut out both of its opponents, needs only a tie to win the group and draw Group B's runner-up -- England, Sweden or Trinidad & Tobago; Sweden appears most likely -- when the second round kicks off a week from Saturday.

``We have met our first objective, but we don't want to stop there,'' said coach Luis Fernando Suarez, whose team stunned Poland 2-0 in its opener and was even more dominant against Costa Rica. ``We want to take advantage of the greater opportunity and fulfill more objectives. ...

``The games (against Germany and in the knockout phase) will be more demanding and complicated for Ecuador, but they'll also be more demanding and complicated for anyone playing Ecuador."

The victory sent thousands of their countrymen into the streets of Quito and other cities and towns to celebrate.

Costa Rica, with an aging side that couldn't measure up to its 1990 or 2002 teams, wasn't expected to advance, but it didn't lessen the sting. The Ticos, who played a spirited game in a 4-2 loss to Germany in the tournament opener, couldn't penetrate Ecuador's backline.

Paulo Wanchope, whose speed unhinged Germany's defense, had little space in which to operate, and support never materialized.

``We did not want to be in the situation ...,'' said Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes, whose team was the first from CONCACAF -- likely to be followed by the U.S. and Trinidad & Tobago -- to be eliminated.

``Obviously, we are quite sad.''

And Poland is devastated. After failing to advance from the first round four years ago in South Korea, the Poles were expected to join Germany as Group A's entrants to the knockout phase. Twogames, no goals, and they were done.

Ecuador's accomplishment was built on steely defense, led by Ivan Hurtado, and nifty goals early in each half, by Carlos Tenorio in the eighthminute and Agustin Delgado in the 54th. Tenorio and Delgado also scored against the Poles.

``If there's anything significant about this team,'' Suarez explained, ``it's ... that it scores important goals. And not having goals scored against us gives us confidence.''

The most important strike was Kaviedes', two minutes into stoppage time. It meant nothing in itself -- 3-0 is no better than 2-0 in the standings, not with Germany the final group foe -- but everything to the Tri.

Delgado, the 2002 vet who will retire from the national team when Ecuador's Cup run ends, sent a long ball into space ahead of Edison Mendez, who caught up with it as he neared the Costa Rican box.

Kaviedes, running at the goal, knocked it in with the outside of his right foot, then took off running in celebration.

He reached into his shorts, pulled out a Spider-Man mask and put it on his head. Those in the crowd of 50,000 wearing yellow exploded.

Otelino Tenorio would have been there, probably on the field, possibly scoring the goal, but he was killed in a car accident last August.

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CAPTION(S):

photo, 11 boxes

Photo:

(color) Ecuador's Ivan Kaviedes pulls out a Spider-Man mask after scoring Thursday.

Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images

Box:

(1) ARGENTINA vs. SERBIA & MONTENEGRO

(2) IVORY COAST vs. NETHERLANDS

(3) MEXICO vs. ANGOLA

(4) GROUP A

(5) GROUP B

(6) GROUP C

(7) GROUP D

(8) GROUP E

(9) GROUP F

(10) GROUP G

(11) GROUP H