Torsten Frings' spectacular 35-yard effort put the seal on a tremendous 2006 World Cup finals opener as hosts Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in Munich.

Philipp Lahm opened the scoring some six minutes into the tournament with a beautifully-curled effort from the top left corner of the box before Paulo Wanchope equalised six minutes later.

Miroslav Klose then connected from close range to give Germany their second lead of the match in the 17th minute.

Klose grabbed his second midway through the second half, before Wanchope netted his second of the game to ensure a nervy finish.

But the goal of the match was still to come when Frings blasted a 35-yard effort into the top corner three minutes from time.

Germany threatened in the third minute through Frings when the defensive midfielder unleashed a powerful blast from 35 yards which went inches over the crossbar.

The host nation could not have asked for a better start when Lahm broke the deadlock soon after with that superb strike.

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

But Wanchope then silenced the crowd with an equaliser in the 12th minute when the youthful German backline were exposed by a through ball and the striker fired a low shot past Jens Lehmann to level the scores.

The three-time World Cup winners restored their lead after Schneider crossed from the right touchline and hometown hero Bastian Schweinsteiger dribbled his way past two defenders to fire a clever pass to the far post, where an unmarked Klose easily tapped home.

Lukas Podolski and Schweinsteiger then tried their luck with long-range efforts - but to no avail.

A nice combination from the attacking duo then created an opening for Tim Borowski, although the Werder Bremen striker was stopped by the Costa Rican defence.

Germany continued to dominate after the break with Podolski blasting an effort just over and then flicking a header just wide.

And it was no surprise when Klose made it 3-1 after 61 minutes after Porras had stopped his diving header with a flying save but could nothing to prevent him blasting the rebound high into the net.

But Costa Rica refused to lie down and Wanchope struck his second on 73 minutes when he collected a fine through ball before guiding a neat finish beyond Lehmann to give his side hope.

But any hopes they had of salvaging something from game were ended in spectacular fashion three minutes from time when Frings blasted home to cap an entertaining opening game.