WC '06 OPENS WITH A BANG THREE EARLY GOALS SET TONE FOR GERMAN VICTORY GERMANY 4, COSTA RICA 2.

Byline: SCOTT FRENCH Staff Writer

MUNICH, Germany -- Costa Rica's flag, draped atop a section in the corner of Allianz Arena's lower bowl, was meant as a peace offering, a suggestion, as it were, to share the spoils.

``Alemania-Costa Rica'' was printed across the upper white stripe.

Below, on the red swath: ``5:5.''

For the first 17 minutes Friday, Alemania -- Germany, to the English-speaking world -- and Costa Rica looked as if they might live up to that hope. Three goals, just like that. Defense seemed to not be a consideration, and so the World Cup opened with an unprecedented offensive display.

A combined 10 goals turned out beyond reach, but Germany's 4-2 triumph provided as many tallies as the past fouropeners combined. It was a fiercely entertaining display, but for all the prowess in front of the net, the overriding message was clear: Neither team should be counted on for anything significant in the next month.

Philipp Lahm and Torsten Frings provided strong goal-of-the-tournament candidates, and Miroslav Klose celebrated his 28th birthday with two close-range finishes, but Germany's defense -- a topic of considerable concern during the build-up to the Cup -- enabled an aging, ill-considered Costa Rican side to make a game of what was, in nearly every aspect other than score, a rout.

``There's no way you can call that a perfect start, but we've given a decent account of ourselves,'' said Lahm, whose curling drive to the upper-right corner gave the Germans a sixth-minute lead, ``It's good that we scored four goals, but we can't go conceding as many as we did."

It's a point Germany captain Michael Ballack has made repeatedly.

``We still have not sorted out the same problems we have been having for the last two years,'' he said last week.

He could do little more than sit and watch Friday.

Despite pronouncing himself fully recovered from a calf injury, Ballack, the Germans' only top-line player, was left on the bench by coach Juergen Klinsmann, who said to do otherwise would be ``a risk.''

He wasn't needed.

Tim Borowski slid into his slot behind the forwards and fared nicely, at least at the start of each half, and Frings gave an inspired performance behind him. So did Lahm, who expertly ran the left flank and set up Klose's second strike for a 3-1lead in the 61st minute.

Offensively, the Germans looked very good, but their charm was deceptive.

They worked beautiful combinations, attacking with exactness and a certain amount of flair, and it led to 21 shots and might have generated fivegoals, or more, with a little more fortune. Dominance of Costa Rica, however, suggests little when the big opponents arrive in the knockout phase.

The back line struggled to contain speedy Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope, who scored one-on-one with goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in the 12th and 73rd minutes. So, how would Germany cope with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson and Freddie Ljungberg in an anticipated round-of-16 showdown with Sweden?

``Costa Rica's goals came from some pretty basic errors,'' Klinsmann said. ``Goals are only scored when someone makes a mistake. We're working hard to up our game in midfield and in defense, where they caught us off guard twice.''

scott.french(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- color) Goalkeeper Jose Porras of Costa Rica looks on in vain as Philipp Lahm of Germany scores the opening goal past him.

Ben Radford/Getty Images

(2 -- color) Costa Rica's Ronald Gomez goes flying after being tackled by Germany's Per Mertesacker (17) during their match Friday.

Brad Radford/Getty Images