MUNICH, June 8 (SW) - Germany will be set to impress during the 2006 World Cup opening match against Costa Rica on Friday.

The action kicks off in Munich, where hosts Germany face Costa Rica in a Group A clash. Jürgen Klinsmann's side are favorites but their opponents will aim to surprise, as has happened before in opening matches.

With Senegal beating reigning champions France at the World Cup in 2002, anything seems possible. However, the Germans will have learned from the past, and will not have underestimated the central-Americans.

Germany's most notable absence is captain Michael Ballack. The playmaker suffered a calf strain during his team's friendly with Colombia on June 2nd, and is expexted to be replaced with Tim Borowski.

Lehmann will get his first real chance to show why he is the nation's first goalkeeper, ahead of 2002 hero Oliver Kahn.

Meanwhile, the German midfield seems dangerous with players as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Torsten Frings, while Podolski and Klose will be ready to finish things up front.

But Costa Rica will not give up without a fight. Coach Alexandre Guimaraes will count on striker Paulo Wanchope, currently without team, to give the German defense a reason to worry.

Facts:

In five previous encounters, Germany have never lost a match against a team from the CONCACAF zone, with four wins and one draw.

For Costa Rica, this will be their third World Cup participation after 1990 and 2002. Four years ago, they shared a group with eventual champions Brazil.

Head to head:

This is going to be the first encounter between these two teams.

Probable line-ups:

Germany: Lehmann, Lahm, Nowotny, Mertesacker, Friedrich, Schweinsteiger, Frings, Borowski, Schneider, Podolski, Klose.

Costa Rica: Porras, Umana, Marin, Gonzalez, Sequeira, Martinez, Solis, Centeno, Fonseca, Gomez, Wanchope.

Location: Allianz-Arena, Munich

Time: 18:00 (6:00pm) CET

Referee: Horacio Elizondo (Argentina)