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FIFA unperturbed by 'Spider Man'

Kaviades dons his mask to celebrate his goal against Costa Rica.

SPECIAL REPORT

BERLIN, Germany -- FIFA are not planning to take any action against Ecuadorean striker Ivan Kaviedes for donning a Spider-Man mask to celebrate his goal against Costa Rica in their Group A clash on Thursday.

Markus Siegler, FIFA's Director of Communications told reporters on Friday: "Well to be honest, there is nothing in the laws to forbid this kind of thing .Let's not get too petty about this."

But he added: "If it was a trend that was to catch on, well that might be different."

Television pictures flashed around the globe showed Kaviedes celebrating in comic-book style after he scored the third goal in the South American side's 3-0 win, which assured Ecuador of a place in the second round.

But the 29-year-old targetman said there was also a serious side to his celebration -- a tribute to former international Otilino Tenorio, who died last year, aged 25, in a car crash.

"We were having a good time and we had the feeling that Otilino was with us out there," said Agustin Delgado, the scorer of Ecuador's second goal.

"He always made us laugh."

Ecuador, who have made an impressive start to the finals with two victories, now face Germany next Tuesday to decide top spot in Group A.

Going in to the tournament, Ecuador's chances were dismissed by many , including Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who said they could only win at high altitude

Ecuador won seven of their nine qualifiers at home, played 2,800 meters above sea level. Two of those victories were against Brazil and Argentina. They lost six away matches, so many began to believe the criticism.

Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez said: "I am not surprised by our performances and people seem to forget that we play in South America, against supposedly the best teams in the world on a regular basis."

Deserves credit

"We have continued to learn from playing in the last finals and then in qualification for Germany and any country that does that deserves credit."

Germany will find it hard to break down Ecuador's confident four-man defense which is marshaled by midfielder Edwin Tenorio who acts as a buffer just in front of them.

Up front, both of their main strikers, Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado have scored in each game, something many teams could only dream of so early in the competition.

Add to that the fact that substitute forward Kaviedes came on to score against Costa Rica.

Ecuador might continue to surprise some and prove others wrong.

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Home Page Get up-to-the minute news from CNN CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.