LEIPZIG, June 15: A glut of great goals in highly competitive matches played in an old-fashioned sporting spirit in front of good-natured, sell-out crowds have all helped to produce a great start to the World Cup finals.

With 16 matches, or one third of the group stage completed, FIFA and the security authorities could hardly have wished for a better few days to the month-long soccer extravaganza.

Even the weather has been on their side.

Unlike in 2002 when world champions France were sent crashing to a shock 1-0 opening day defeat by Senegal and the United States beat Portugal 3-2 in their first game, there have been no real surprises so far.

All the fancied teams have won and none of those making their World Cup debuts have managed victories yet.

But what has been more noticeable is that none of the debutants have been totally outclassed and all look capable of an upset before the group stage ends.

Ukraine, whose long-awaited appearance at a World Cup tournament ended in a crushing 4-0 defeat to Spain in Leipzig on Wednesday, are the only side to have been soundly beaten.

But every team has a day when nothing goes right, and unfortunately for Ukraine, theirs came on the biggest day in their soccer history.

Hosts Germany set the tone for much of what has followed in the early minutes of the opening match against Costa Rica in Munich last Friday when Philipp Lahm scored with a curling long-range shot for the first goal of the finals.

The two sides produced a highly entertaining game which Germany won 4-2 — the highest scoring opening match in the tournament's history.

Ecuador then produced the only really surprising result a few hours later with a well-deserved 2-0 win over Poland in the second Group A match in Gelsenkirchen.

Germany, as hosts, are likely to do well in the competition and, although this is not the most illustrious German side of all time, they are ranked among the favourites and could well reach the semi-finals at least.

England are another team expected to reach the latter stages and, while they started well with a third minute goal in their Group B match with Paraguay, they failed to score again and have been criticised by the media at home for the way they played.England, however, did emerge from their opening match in Frankfurt with a 1-0 win and three points, the same as world champions Brazil who beat Croatia by the same score on Tuesday.

Argentina also got off to a winning start without playing brilliantly in their 2-1 win against debutants Ivory Coast in Group C and look set to qualify with the Netherlands, who did play very well in their 1-0 win over Serbia & Montenegro.

While the favourites have all avoided the first hurdles in this race, one or two dark horses have emerged on the rails.

Mexico were impressive in a 3-1 win over Iran in Nuremberg on Sunday, while Spain thrashed Ukraine 4-0 on Wednesday.

Portugal, runners-up at home in Euro 2004, beat Angola 1-0 in Cologne on Sunday and with Brazil's 2002 World Cup-winning coach Luis Felipe Scolari in charge, cannot be discounted.

The best comeback of the first 16 games was Australia's, who scored three times in the last seven minutes to beat Japan 3-1.—Reuters