An explosion of yellow in New Jersey. Players on their knees in tears and a coach throwing himself in to the arms of the crowd to celebrate. Ecuador are in to the last 32 of this fabulous World Cup.Sabastian Beccacece’s team hadn’t scored a goal at this tournament before this meeting with a German side that had won its last eleven games. So this was an all or nothing afternoon at the MetLife.And despite being a goal down after a Leroy Sane strike within two minutes, the South Americans recovered to equalise through Ivan Angulo before 25-year-old Gonzalo Plata sent thousands of Ecuadorian fans wild with the winner with thirteen minutes to go.Ecuador will progress to the knockout stages as a very dangerous third-placed team and could yet face England if Thomas Tuchel’s team win Group L.Here Daily Mail Sport looks at the big moments from an afternoon of high drama in the USA…
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There was an explosion of yellow in New Jersey as Ecuador beat Germany to qualify for the World Cup knockout phase Gonazalo Plata won it for the Ecuadorians with a close-range finish from a cornerTHIS IS HOW YOU DO ITScotland took the ‘sit back and hope’ approach to their shot at glory against Brazil in Miami on Wednesday. Ecuador decided to grab the bull by the horns instead. Here in New Jersey they were facing a German side on an eleven-game unbeaten run. What’s more – just like Scotland – they suffered a disastrous opening to the game as the referee and VAR officials ignored a foul in the build up to a second minute Leroy Sane goal. We would not have heard the last of that had Germany prevailed but Ecuador’s attitude from that point on was fabulous and that, as well as a few other things, would make them a very dangerous opponent to England if that fixture does indeed come to pass in Atlanta on July 1. Beccacece is an expressive and emotional coach and that clearly influences his team. They are athletic and quick and clever and they thoroughly deserved this win. What’s more, this will imbue them with huge confidence. They were impressive in qualifying for this tournament and their opening two results – a draw and a defeat without a goal – were not indicative of their real quality. This was more like it. They will also be backed by huge numbers off the field – whoever and wherever they play next.THE DANGERS OF THE FORMATYou have to be a good team to win a big tournament – obviously – but you also have to be a bit lucky. For example, England benefited from a kind draw when they reached the final of the last Euros. Here in America, it’s complicated by the fact that a bunch of third placed teams go through. Depending on what happens over the next couple of days, a group winner could be rewarded with a game against someone like Scotland or DR Congo. Equally, they could end up with Ecuador or Belgium. Fair? No it absolutely isn’t. But then football isn’t supposed to be. No team should ever be rewarded for a third placed finish by going through but that’s the way FIFA in their wisdom have decreed it. Now that the format is with us, it has provided a strangely compelling form of jeopardy. England may just be feeling a little nervous. This Ecuador team could hurt them.STILL NO GO FOR FLOIs there a more frustrating footballer alive than Florian Wirtz? If there is I can’t really think of one. The Liverpool midfielder is so talented. He set up the goal for Sane here with a lovely bit of control, a look up and a perfect pass across the penalty area that was just aching to be put away. In the second half meanwhile, he lifted the ball over a defender’s head quite sublimely to lead an attack into the Ecuador penalty area that almost led to a goal. Julian Nagelsmann’s Germans were outplayed after going 1-0 up in the first-half Is there a more frustrating footballer in world football than Liverpool and Germany’s Florian Wirtz?This is the kind of stuff that you would pay to watch every week. But at Liverpool in his debut Premier League season we saw the other side of him and it was on display here too. Too often he can look one-paced. Too often he looks like he need an extra millisecond on the ball. Maybe he used to get that in the Bundesliga when he forged his reputation at Bayer Leverkusen but he doesn’t get it in the Premier League and he didn’t get it during this game either. He lost a tackle in the build up to the Ecuador equaliser and he does have that in his locker too. He was taken off with twenty minutes left and cut a rather rueful figure on the bench. Germany – and Liverpool – need more.CAN GERMANY WIN THE WORLD CUP?There is a lot to like about Julian Nagelsmann’s side. They have some expressive players such as Wirtz and the equally talented Jamal Musiala. They also have some intriguing new blood such as the incredibly talented Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha and of course the super sub Deniz Undav. Sometimes when a player runs hot through a tournament, they can become temporarily unstoppable. Think of Toto Schillaci from Italia ’90. At the moment Undav – who has scored three times from the bench so far – has that kind of vibe about him. Here he came close to breaking Ecuador hearts with a shot in to the side netting in added time. The way Germany pushed hard for parity was typically admirable. This was a dead rubber for a team that had won the group already but their pride drove them on. The flip side is that Germany are vulnerable in key areas. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is 40 now and a bag of nerves. He was slow to react as Plata moved quickest to poke in the winning goal. Equally, with central defender Nico Schlotterbeck injured and out of the tournament, Antonio Rudiger partnered Jonathan Tah here and the duo looked shaky. Finally, a question. Is Kai Havertz really a World Cup winning centre forward? Well, France won in 2018 without Olivier Giroud having a shot on target all tournament. So it can be done. But I am not sure. It’s a big ask.Have you paid attention to the action so far? Try our World Cup quiz HERE.