Beckham makes history and fires England into last eight

By George Burns Jun 25, 2006, 19:47 GMT

Stuttgart - David Beckham became the first Englishman to score in three World Cups when he scored the only goal in England's last 16-victory over Ecuador in Stuttgart on Sunday.

It was a dramatic afternoon for the England captain who threw-up immediately after his match-winning set-piece special and afterwards said he was delighted to have once again proved his critics wrong.

There had been calls from some the English press to drop the Real Madrid midfielder but in a turgid, unconvincing England display Beckham's moment of magic was the only bright spot.

'It was an ugly performance,' admitted the England skipper. 'But it was a great feeling to get a goal and put us through to the quarter-finals.'

It was the 59th minute of the second half when Frank Lampard was obstructed by Ulises De La Cruz and the England skipper curled a 28 metres free-kick, over the wall and past Cristian Mora in the Ecuador goal.

He was then sick on the turf and afterwards told reporters: 'I didn't feel well before the game but I thought I would be fine and in the first half I felt fine. But it continued in the second half and it just came out.'

Coach Sven Goran Eriksson also admitted the performance was not the best but was pleased to make it to the last eight and defended his decision to play Wayne Rooney as a lone-striker behind a five-man midfield.

He said: 'You can't expect easy games at the World Cup. We should have scored more goals but 1-0, clean sheet, and we are through to the quarter-finals.

'We wanted to try to play with one up-front because we think it could be useful later in the tournament. We have so many half strikers - (Frank) Lampard, (Steven) Gerrard, Beckham. We will see if we use it again.'

As expected Eriksson called up Tottenham's Michael Carrick and left out striker Peter Crouch and defender Jamie Carragher.

Ecuador named the side that gave them their first two wins in Group A with first-choice front pairing Agustin Delgado and Carlos Tenorio back after being rested in the defeat to Germany.

And it was Tenorio who almost gave Ecuador a shock lead after just 10 minutes when he ran onto a poor defensive header from John Terry. The striker's shot was goal-bound but a last ditch tackle from Ashley Cole deflected it onto the bar.

Terry's shaky start continued when he was booked for a foul on Tenorio and the nerves seemed to spread through the England defence with keeper Paul Robinson going for the same cross as Rio Ferdinand and completely missing the ball.

In temperatures approaching 30 degrees England were making hard work of the South American underdogs. A Beckham free-kick was the closest they came to scoring in the first period.

Their attack had carried no real threat with Rooney chasing lost causes up-front. A heavy pass from Carrick right on half time that the Manchester United striker chased but failed to keep in was typical of the first 45 minutes.

The turgid build-up play continued in the early stages of the second half but on the hour England were in front and it was captain Beckham who had got his side out of jail.

Robinson then had to get down well to save a shot from Antonio Valencia but with Ferdinand looking more assured at the back England were looking more comfortable.

And on 73 minutes Lampard should have put the result beyond doubt when he was tee-ed up by Rooney but the Chelsea midfielder, so lethal for Chelsea, leant back and blasted the chance over.

Beckham left the field on 87 minutes to be replaced by Aaron Lennon, having silenced his critics and written himself into the record books.

'We don't make it easy for ourselves,' he admitted afterwards. 'We dont keep the ball as we should do but we believe in ourselves and the fans believe in us. We know we can play better.'

Match statistics

England - Ecuador 1-0 (0-0)

England: Paul Robinson - Owen Hargreaves, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole - David Beckham (87. Aaron Lennon), Michael Carrick, Steven Gerrard (90. Stewart Downing), Frank Lampard, Joe Cole (76. Jamie Carragher) - Wayne Rooney

Ecuador: Cristian Mora, Ulises De la Cruz, Ivan Hurtado, Giovanny Espinoza, Neicer Reasco - Antonio Valencia, Edwin Tenorio (69. Christian Lara), Segundo Castillo, Edison Mendez - Agustin Delgado, Carlos Tenorio (72. Ivan Kaviedes)

Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

Goals: 1-0 Beckham (60)

Attendance: 52,000

Yellow Cards: Terry, Robinson, Carragher / Valencia, Tenorio, De La Cruz

Best Players: Beckham, Ashley Cole / Carlos Tenorio, Valencia