Costa Rica manager Alexandre Guimaraes is looking to the past for inspiration ahead of the World Cup curtain raiser against Germany on Friday.

The hosts will start the game as strong favourites, but Guimaraes has reminded his players that Senegal beat France in the opening fixture four years ago and that Cameroon downed Argentina in the first game of Italia '90.

"I don't know if we are going to perform like Senegal did but this kind of result, like Senegal and Cameroon against Argentina, is extra motivation for the team," said Guimares.

"Anything can happen. We have good players and they know how to perform in these kind of games.

"My team knows how to perform when the real time is here.

"We have not played very well in our preparation but that's not just Costa Rica. In the official games we always perform very well and Friday is the perfect time to start performing."

The Ticos lost 4-0 to Ukraine and 1-0 to a below strength Czech Republic line-up in their pre-tournament friendlies.