A record crowd witnessed a historic World Cup heist as gritty Ecuador stunned four-time champions Germany 2-1 at MetLife Stadium on Friday, sealing a dramatic place in the knockout stages.In a match that saw a record 80,663 fans push the tournament’s total attendance past the 1994 US edition, Gonzalo Plata emerged as the ultimate hero. The winger scored a winner in the 77th minute to orchestrate La Tri’s great escape, booking their first ticket to the last 16 since 2006. The night started disastrously for Ecuador. Germany took the lead just 1 minute and 50 seconds into the game when Leroy Sane fired home his 18th international goal. The build-up caused controversy as Aleksandar Pavlovic appeared to kick Pedro Vite after a throw-in, but American referee Tori Penso waved off the play. Pavlovic found Florian Wirtz, who set up Sané in the box. During the melee, Plata also took a painful blow to the head.However, Ecuador refused to back down and struck in the ninth minute. Felix Nmecha lost possession in midfield to Vite, who quickly fed Nilson Angulo. The forward dribbled with intent and beat Germany’s 40-year-old veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from just outside the penalty area to level the scores.The second half began with high drama when referee Penso awarded Germany a penalty 30 seconds into the restart for Joel Ordonez’s foul on Kai Havertz. However, a VAR review overturned the decision, revealing that Sane had fouled Vite in the build-up.The final moment came 13 minutes from time. From a Pedro Vite corner, Kevin Rodriguez headed the ball across the face of the goal. Neuer moved to go up, but a persistent Plata cleared the iconic goalkeeper with his left foot, sending coach Sebastián Beccacece running into the stands to celebrate.The win ended Germany’s 11-game winning streak. While Germany still top Group E with six points, Ecuador finish third with four, guaranteeing progress to the next round.
