England making few friends but keep on winning

Jun 26, 2006, 18:17 GMT

Stuttgart - England take on Portugal Saturday in Gelsenkirchen for a place in the last four of the World Cup having yet to show any kind of footballing form.

Sven Goran Eriksson's side put in another stilted performance against Ecuador in Stuttgart Sunday but still came away with a 1-0 victory thanks to piece of sublime magic from captain David Beckham, who curled in an unstoppable second-half free kick.

But however satisfied Eriksson is that his side keeps on winning, the Swede is aware that England will have to play better against Portugal, even if coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is missing the suspended Costinha and Deco and has an injury doubt over Cristiano Ronaldo.

A weakened Portugal team will still be a class above Ecuador, who rarely threatened England's defence, except early on when Carlos Tenorio should have scored after capitalizing on a rare John Terry error.

'I don't know what would have happened if Tenorio had taken that chance, but without doubt the situation would have changed,' said Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez.

In truth, England never looked like losing and were lucky to be facing such limited opposition in the last 16 of the World Cup but Eriksson said after the game that he felt it was time his side 'had a bit of luck at a major tournament'.

'I think we are playing better and better with every game. We have to try to score goals with the chances we create,' said the Swede.

'We know that we can play better. Knowing that when you are qualified for the quarter-final is good.'

One of the highlights for Eriksson was the performance of Wayne Rooney, who looked dangerous throughout as he completed a full 90 minutes of competitive football for the first time since breaking his foot in April.

The forward dismissed the notion that England have failed to spark so far in the tournament, saying the results speak otherwise.

'People say we are playing badly but we have had three wins and a draw. I don't think that's bad,' he said.

'I feel good. I've been doing a lot of hard work over the last five weeks and it's paid off for me. I've done well to play the full 90 minutes. I think it's coming. Hopefully now I can get a goal.'

The perfect time for Rooney to open his goalscoring account at this World Cup would be against a Portugal side led by Scolari, who as coach of Brazil at the 2002 World Cup and Portugal in the European championships two years ago has dumped Eriksson's side out of the last two tournaments.

But to achieve this a marked improvement is necessary from this England team in Gelsenkirchen.

'I can assure you that we will be play better on Saturday,' said Eriksson.