Yellow Bloom! Ecuador in Euphoria After Reaching Round of 32, Upset 4-time FIFA World Cup Champions Germany

The Knicks might be the flavour of this New York season but on Thursday, only Chris Martin’s words made sense.

It was all Yellow.

Emotions overflowed at the New York New Jersey Stadium as plucky South American upstarts Ecuador stunned four-time World Cup champions Germany 2-1 to book a return to the knockout stages for the first time in two decades.

Staring at the abyss, head coach Sebastian Beccacece admitted prior to the game that he’d have to step down if Ecuador didn’t make the knockout stages.

This was, after all, a vibrant young team with a nation’s expectations on their shoulders. Arsenal, Paris St-Germain, Chelsea – these were the clubs represented in the ranks of La Tricolor.

Never has the tiny South American country boasted of this much talent heading into world football’s greatest extravaganza. A 19-match unbeaten run had only shot expectations up to the moon and when the draw was announced – Curacao and Cote D’Ivoire – you’d have forgiven the fans for expecting a straightforward run to the Round of 32.

Football is but anything that it represents on paper. A last-gasp loss to the Ivory Coast in their opener, followed by a scarcely believable draw against Curacao, had left Ecuador hoping for a miracle against the giants.

Germany, which had already sealed qualification after two disappointing first-round exits, was reminded of their familiar failings. There is an increasing despondency among the Mannschaft faithful that their team isn’t one of the contenders and Thursday was more evidence towards this conclusion.

Despite taking an early lead, Ecuador played some front-foot ball against their illustrious opponents and never allowed them to truly settle. Sunderland’s Nilson Angulo unleashed a thunderous strike from the edge of the box, beating Manuel Neuer and cancelling out Leroy Sane’s opener.

On the counter, they threatened Germany’s high line time and again as their insipid opponents were too slow and tenuous in attack at times. Ecuador’s defence was largely untroubled as the Germans lacked any creativity going forward.

The second half was more of the same as Kevin Rodriguez found Gonzalo Plata on the edge of the box as his shot flew over the bar. In the 77^th minute, though, there’d be no mistake from Plata as Rodriguez’s flick-on found him in the box and he coolly tapped it in with his right.

As the full-time whistle blew, there was delirium in the stands as tears of joy flooded the New Jersey stadium. Beccacece headed straight to the stands to celebrate with his family as the 45-year-old masterminded a comeback victory against World Cup giants. The magnitude of joy and euphoria may be one that he may never be able to replicate.

Critics of the 48-team World Cup will have to eat humble pie as the showpiece tournament finally witnessed two shocks on the same day. Hosts USA, already through to the next round, were stunned at the last minute as Turkey overcame the Americans 3-2.

Turkey, also considered one of the dark horses next to Ecuador, will be heading home, but would have been glad to sign off with a victory. Arda Guler, precocious Real Madrid wunderkind, was magnificent on the day, pulling strings in midfield and bagging the opener.

In another shocker, South Africa got a 1-0 victory over South Korea – a result that has attracted greater criticism and scrutiny back home.

In the last round of group stages, some other results: Switzerland beat Canada 2-1, Bosnia and Herzegovina condemned Qatar to a 3-1 loss, Morocco won 4-2 against Haiti, Brazil beat Scotland 3-0, Mexico dominated Czechia 3-0, Ivory Coast ended Curacao’s debut campaign with a 2-0 win, Netherlands eased past Tunisia 3-1, Japan and Sweden shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, and Paraguay held Australia a 0-0 draw.

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