England advanced to the last eight of the 2006 World Cup as a second-half free-kick from captain David Beckham proved enough to secure a 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Sunday, 25 June 2006.
Beckham had not scored a goal for England for more than three years but his superb strike on the hour in Stuttgart took his team through to a quarter-final date with either Portugal or the Netherlands in Gelsenkirchen on 1 July. It also made him the first England player to score in three separate FIFA World Cup tournaments.
Ecuador, playing in the second round for the first time, missed a golden opportunity to take the lead early in the game when Carlos Tenorio broke through on goal only to see his deflected shot strike the woodwork.
1': Sven-Goran Eriksson elected to start with Owen Hargreaves on the right of a four-man defence, with Michael Carrick operating in central midfield. Wayne Rooney, operating as a lone striker, made his presence felt in the early exchanges which were encouraging for England.
11': They were afforded a huge let-off, however, when John Terry, attempting to head clear ten yards up from the edge of the England box, inadvertently played in Carlos Tenorio who was left with just Paul Robinson to beat. The goalkeeper went the wrong way, but a low shot from the Ecuadorian deflected off Ashley Cole's knee and thumped against the crossbar.
28': Lampard could not get a clean strike when driving from the edge of the area, while a short ball from Ashley Cole intended to set Rooney free hit the striker on the back as Eriksson's side struggled to get into any kind of rhythm.
41':A mistake from captain Ivan Hurtado on the edge of his own penalty area allowed Rooney a half-chance approaching half-time, but defenders converged to snuff out the danger.
55': Ecuador began to see more of the ball, if not the final pass which was the key to gaining the edge in this tight game.
60': It was a match which needed something special – and it came in the shape of a Beckham special. A free-kick was awarded some ten yards up from the right-hand edge of the Ecuador penalty area and Beckham produced a superb delivery which had Cristian Mora scrambling across his goal just to get a fingertip to the ball on its way into the net. (1-0)
75': As players tired in the heat chances became more numerous and Mora fell full-length to his right to gather a low drive from Rooney.
84': There was concern on two fronts in the closing stages for England as Robinson appeared to have a problem with his right leg, while Beckham, who was physically sick on the pitch, was replaced by Aaron Lennon.
It was a controlled performance from England which took them to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup. Beckham's strike proved enough to settle a game of few chances against an Ecuador team who seemed to lack the belief to seriously threaten the opposition goal.
(Source: FIFA)
