Germany kicked off the World Cup in entertaining fashion as they hammered Costa Rica 4-2 in the tournament's opening clash in Munich.

An early strike from Philipp Lahm gave the hosts an early lift in the absence of influential captain Michael Ballack, who was missing through a calf injury.

Former Derby, Manchester City and West Ham striker Paulo Wanchope stunned the sell-out crowd of 66,000 when he levelled the scores in the 12th minute.

Man-of-the-match Miroslav Klose struck in the 17th and 61st minutes before Wanchope punished the shaky German defence for a second time in the 73rd.

And the spectacular curtain-raiser came to a fitting end in the 87th minute as Torsten Frings´ 35-yard piledriver sent the crowd into ecstasy.

German boss Jurgen Klinsmann decided to rest attacking talisman Ballack after a nagging calf injury had kept the striker out of practice for the past week.

The 29-year-old Chelsea player had declared himself fit less than 24 hours before the match, but Klinsmann decided to stick with Werder Bremen ace Tim Borowski in central midfield instead.

Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann made his World Cup debut in the backyard of Bayern Munich rival Oliver Kahn, after watching four tournaments from the bench.

Injury-free Costa Rica fielded their strongest squad, with Wanchope and in-form Ronald Gomez up front.

Germany, captained today by Leverkusen winger Bernd Schneider, were first to threaten in the third minute when defensive midfielder Frings shot just over from 35 yards.

The hosts got the start they wanted in the sixth minute when Lahm broke the deadlock with a beautifully-curled effort from the top left corner of the box.

Danny Fonseca lost his footing just outside the penalty box, allowing Lahm to round him before curling in a right-footed effort which went in off the far post.

Costa Rica goalkeeper Jose Porras denied Klose from close range, with Schneider rifling over the follow-up.

But Wanchope then silenced the crowd with his equaliser, beating the offside trap to receive a through-ball and fire low past Lehmann.

However, the three-time World Cup winners restored their lead just five minutes later after Schneider crossed from the right touchline.

Hometown hero Bastian Schweinsteiger dribbled his way past two defenders and fired a clever pass to the far post for Klose to sweep home.

Lukas Podolski and Schweinsteiger then tried their luck with long-range efforts but to no avail, before Germany´s shaky defence was exposed for a second time in the 38th minute when Walter Centeno delivered a clever through ball to Wanchope - only for the linesman to flag for offside.

Germany could have doubled the lead in the 43rd minute as Christoph Metzelder got his foot on a right-wing corner - but the defender fired well over from five yards out on the left.

The second half resumed in the same fashion, with Germany holding the majority of possession but not looking totally secure at the back.

Podolski threatened with a left-footed shot from 20 yards just 26 seconds into the second half, before the unmarked Fonseca went close to levelling with a header.

But just when Germany appeared to be struggling to create further openings, Klose came to the rescue again on his 28th birthday.

The man who grabbed a hat-trick in Germany´s opening 8-0 victory over Saudi Arabia four years ago converted from close range after seeing his header from Lahm's cross blocked by Parras.

The Costa Rica keeper stopped another spirited drive from left-back Lahm to prevent further damage two minutes later, before Borowski, who failed to impress as Ballack's replacement, was substituted for Sebastian Kehl in the 72nd minute.

The underdogs gave themselves hope in the 73rd minute, with Wanchope again the scorer. Centeno sprung the German offside trap with a superb through-ball and Wanchope gently placed the ball past Lehmann.

Two-goal hero Klose received a standing ovation when he was replaced by Oliver Neuville in the 80th minute.

Parras saved brilliantly from Per Mertesacker soon after, before Frings put the issue beyond doubt with the goal of the game.

Schweinsteiger laid a free-kick off to the Werder Bremen man - and he hammered home from fully 35 yards to make sure of a winning start for the hosts.

Teams:

Germany Lehmann, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm,Schweinsteiger, Frings, Borowski (Kehl 72),Schneider (Odonkor 90), Podolski, Klose (Neuville 79).

Subs Not Used: Asamoah, Ballack, Hildebrand, Hitzlsperger,

Huth, Jansen, Kahn, Nowotny.

Goals: Lahm 6, Klose 17, 61, Frings 87.

Costa Rica Porras, Marin, Umana, Gonzalez,Martinez (Drummond 67), Fonseca, Solis (Bolanos 78), Centeno,Sequeira, Gomez (Azofeifa 90), Wanchope.

Subs Not Used: Alfaro, Badilla, Bernard, Hernandez, Mesen,

Nunez, Rodriguez, Saborio, Wallace.

Booked: Fonseca.

Goals: Wanchope 12, 73.

Att: 64,950

Ref: Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (Argentina).