Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes believes "intelligent" play will be key to his team's chances of success against Ecuador on Thursday.

Los Ticos slipped to a 4-2 defeat in the World Cup curtain-raiser against host nation Germany.

Guimaraes' side are now desperate for a win against Group A rivals Ecuador, who beat Poland 2-0, in order to keep their tournament hopes alive.

"Three points against Ecuador would give us more options in order to continue in the competition," said Guimaraes.

"A draw would be a good result for Ecuador and that is why we have to be extremely intelligent in the way we play."

Guimaraes will not make wholesale changes to the starting XI that played against Germany.

"We are not going to make the mistake of changing half the team for the clash against Ecuador," he said.

"We played a good game against Germany and there's no reason to go crazy.

"We will, however, change our tactics slightly and the players are already aware of what I expect from them."

Guimaraes will be forced to make at least one alteration, with Jervis Drummond set to take Gilberto Martinez's place at right-back.

Martinez suffered a leg injury against Germany and has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

Despite their solid performance against Jurgen Klinsmann's men, Guimaraes expects his players to show more against Ecuador.

"My players know that there is still room for improvement with respect to our game against Germany," he said.

"Against Germany, we defended and attacked well.

"On Thursday we know what we need to do in order to get a positive result.

"What we cannot do is attack from the first minute and leave spaces at the back which could prove costly for us."

Guimaraes expects a tough battle against the Tricolor, who have already proven dangerous opponents.

"I don't think they will change their tactics," he said.

"They were very good against Poland and it's up to us to try to test them."

Ecuador, who are playing in their second World Cup finals, have never progressed to the second round and Guimaraes hopes the added pressure on them may benefit his team.

"This is a historic game for them," he said.

"I think that will give them some anxiety."