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Schneider leads Germany in opener
 Schneider took over the captaincy after Ballack's exclusion. MUNICH, Germany -- Midfielder Bernd Schneider led out Germany for the opening match of the 2006 World Cup finals in Munich, after coach Juergen Klinsmann omitted Michael Ballack, who had declared himself fit shortly before the match. Klinsmann preferred Tim Borowski in Ballack's central midfield position for the Group A match against Costa Rica. But the team's doctors decided playing Ballack would be too risky, according to assistant coach Joachim Loew. "The danger of a tear is very, very high. We didn't want to take that risk. Ballack is too important for that. We need him in later matches," Loew said. Costa Rica had had slight doubts over goalkeeper Jose Francisco Porras, midfielder Mauricio Solis and defender Gilberto Martinez but all three were cleared to play. Paulo Wanchope, recovered from knee injuries, took his place up front alongside Ronald Gomez. Bavarian goatherds marching to the crack of long whips, traditional cowbell ringers and 170 former champions from around the world, featured in the opening ceremonies before the first game. Thousands of fans inside the spectacular Allianz Arena and hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide turned their eyes to Munich for the start of the month-long tournament. Triple world champion Pele from Brazil, accompanied by German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, carried the trophy into the stadium before a sold-out crowd of 60,000 including German president Horst Koehler and Costa Rican counterpart Oscar Arias. For the first time in the history of the event, every living member of past World Cup-winning teams was present, walking on to the pitch amid roaring applause. "Finally it can start," Koehler said in his address. "Welcome to Germany. May we see lots of goals and fair play," he said before declaring the tournament open.  A sell-out crowd of 60,000 watched the opening ceremonies. Munich's newly built stadium, completed last year at a cost of 340 million euro ($430 million), was mostly covered in black, red and gold flags, the colors of the host nation's flag as a local boys' choir kicked off celebrations some 90 minutes before the start of the match. "This is the most beautiful game in the world and I am here at the very start of it," said German fan Klaus Breitmann from Cologne, draped in a German flag and wearing a black-red-gold wig. "This is the biggest party in the world and I am invited." About 7,000 noisy Costa Rican fans in the stands added even more spice to the celebrations. "We are outnumbered but we have a bigger heart," said Guillermo Salas, who paid $5,000 for an 18-day, three-match trip. Thousands more had camped outside the stadium in the hope of getting their hands on any tickets. The Germans had initially planned to stage a large opening ceremony in Berlin on the day before the first game but concerns it could damage the pitch and low ticket sales forced them to scrap it and leave Munich to host a scaled-down opening ceremony. 
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