ECUADOR v Costa Rica

Apparently Trinidad and Tobago were playing some team called England on Thursday, and there was feverish speculation that a certain Wayne Rooney might feature. But first things first: Ecuador had a crunch match against Costa Rica, and a win would put them in the second round.

I’d been pleasantly surprised to find out that London had recently acquired a reasonably large Ecuadorian community, packed tightly around Elephant & Castle with the Colombians.

So I’d got myself down there and asked a waiter in a Hispanic restaurant where I could watch the game with the fans. He grinned and answered “Aquí,” stressing it in such a way to make it obvious I’d just asked a stupid question. If only all the countries were so easy, I thought.

And as I got the lift out of the station shortly before kick off I saw three lads bedecked in yellow, red and blue shirts, flags and hair dye. I followed them. They were going to the Ministry of Salsa, a few doors down from the restaurant I had chosen. There was a decent crowd there preparing for the action on their big screen, so I joined them.

The crowd was made up primarily of young fans, dressed in team paraphernalia, but in a Los Angeles street style, with bandanas, back-to-front caps, and baggy shirts and shorts.

Meanwhile, older members of the crowd were mostly tucking in to big bowls of delicious-looking-and-smelling food while the match got underway. To make the food even more appealing, it was being served by Hollywood actress Marisa Tomei. At least I think it was her.

Coverage on the big screen came courtesy of Ecuadorian TV, complete with hundred-miles-an-hour commentary. I wondered if the commentator had to talk so fast to fit in everything he had to say around frequent adverts for various lotteries, which appeared at the bottom of the screen during the game, with their own dialogue: “text Ecuador to this number to win a thousand dollars!”

The crowd weren’t displaying as much excitement as the commentator, with a surprisingly laid-back vibe in the Ministry. Maybe they suspected that this game was going to be easy, having already beaten Poland. Their team did nothing to prove that assumption wrong, taking the lead after just eight minutes, sparking wild celebrations from the previously too-cool-for-school young fans.

I was enjoying Ecuador performing above all expectations so far in the tournament, and found myself cheering along at the goal.

The laid-back vibe returned until just after half-time, when Ecuador doubled their lead, to huge cheers from the crowd. They now had a big foot in the second round.

The atmosphere started to buzz as full-time approached, the Costa Rica fans who were sneaking out of the stadium early on TV getting short shrift in the Ministry; and the kids really sparked into life when Ivan Kaviedes made it 3-0 in the last minute.

Ecuador were through, but I couldn’t hang around for the party. England were next up, and I had to get there early if I wanted to get in.