England made the quarter finals of the World Cup once more under Sven after a close game between the three lions and Ecuador was settled by a David Beckham free kick.
The largely England Stuttgart crowd were made to hold their breath however as the team struggled to provide any sign of spark or improvement on early tournament performances. Ecuador could also feel a little harshly done to as excellent saves from Robinson and a fantastic saving tackle from Ashley Cole prevented them from going behind in the early stages of the game.
After making wholesale changes to the team which was defeated by German, Ecuador returned to their usual line up. England meanwhile changed the team again with Carrick reverting to the holding position ahead of Hargreaves who went to right back. Gerrard returned after coming on as a sub against Sweden and with Owen injured Crouch was dropped and Rooney began up front by himself.
The game started at a very slow pace with England worried about being drained out by the heat again. The tempo was clearly suiting Ecuador as their players were able to settle their nerves by getting some good early touches in.
It was the South American’s who created the first chance of the game as well and it was England’s Ashley Cole who was the man who prevented his country from going behind. A good win from Tenorio in midfield forced Terry onto the back foot, the Chelsea defender’s header was weakly back towards his own goal allowing Delgado the opportunity to be faced up with Robinson. The ball took an eternity to drop and just as he picked his spot the ball struck the outstretched leg of the Arsenal defender before hitting the cross bar on its way over the top.
England had been given a let off but this did not improve their performance and the crowd began to become agitated with their wasteful possession and poor attacking play.
It took 18 minutes to engineer even a half chance for them and even then Gerrard did not even find the target with his long range strike.
Both Lampard and Gerrard impacted very little on the game with only Carrick really getting chance to do something with the ball, however because of their quality it was always going to be England who were in the ascendancy.
Two minutes later however England were almost behind as a free kick deflected just wide of Robinson’s goal with the Spurs keeper routed to the spot. Replays showed the ball hitting Ferdinand whose uncertainty had nearly caused a mix up between him and his goalkeeping colleague Robinson.
On 35 minutes David Beckham was given the chance to score with a free kick but his trademark bending shot was just wide of the goal with the keeper well beaten. It was a great effort from the England captain who more had been one of England’s better players during the game.
Half time saw both sides drawing a blank and for England it was back to the drawing board as far as getting their best players into the game was concerned.
On 60 minutes however they did take the lead with an excellent free kick from David Beckham beating the goalkeeper at his near post. The England captain delivered his trademark set piece with excellent accuracy and pace to ensure that a hand from the goalkeeper was not enough to prevent the ball finding the net.
For this point onwards however England became defensive and their tendency to sit back on a lead once more became evident. They did however still create chances and three minutes after the goal they were unlucky not to extend their lead through Frank Lampard. The Chelsea midfielder’s shooting which had been way off during the tournament was once more not up to it’s best as his half volley was dragged just wide of the right hand post.
Ecuador, looking for a way back into the game were nearly rewarded after good work down the left gave Delgado a shooting chance once more but this time it was Robinson who came to England’s rescue with a smart save to his right hand side.
Largely inactive throughout the game Robinson did terribly well to get down and palm the ball away for a corner.
There was still time for one more England chance and it was created by 20 year old Wayne Rooney down the left hand side. After controlling the ball and flicking it through the defender’s legs Rooney brushed his man off to lay the ball back to Lampard in the box. Once more however Lampard could not convert was leaning back he snatched as his shot as smashed it over the bar.
None the less it was the most unsatisfactory of victories for England who will know that they must do better when they meet Portugal or Holland in the quarter finals.
The largely England Stuttgart crowd were made to hold their breath however as the team struggled to provide any sign of spark or improvement on early tournament performances. Ecuador could also feel a little harshly done to as excellent saves from Robinson and a fantastic saving tackle from Ashley Cole prevented them from going behind in the early stages of the game.
After making wholesale changes to the team which was defeated by German, Ecuador returned to their usual line up. England meanwhile changed the team again with Carrick reverting to the holding position ahead of Hargreaves who went to right back. Gerrard returned after coming on as a sub against Sweden and with Owen injured Crouch was dropped and Rooney began up front by himself.
The game started at a very slow pace with England worried about being drained out by the heat again. The tempo was clearly suiting Ecuador as their players were able to settle their nerves by getting some good early touches in.
It was the South American’s who created the first chance of the game as well and it was England’s Ashley Cole who was the man who prevented his country from going behind. A good win from Tenorio in midfield forced Terry onto the back foot, the Chelsea defender’s header was weakly back towards his own goal allowing Delgado the opportunity to be faced up with Robinson. The ball took an eternity to drop and just as he picked his spot the ball struck the outstretched leg of the Arsenal defender before hitting the cross bar on its way over the top.
England had been given a let off but this did not improve their performance and the crowd began to become agitated with their wasteful possession and poor attacking play.
It took 18 minutes to engineer even a half chance for them and even then Gerrard did not even find the target with his long range strike.
Both Lampard and Gerrard impacted very little on the game with only Carrick really getting chance to do something with the ball, however because of their quality it was always going to be England who were in the ascendancy.
Two minutes later however England were almost behind as a free kick deflected just wide of Robinson’s goal with the Spurs keeper routed to the spot. Replays showed the ball hitting Ferdinand whose uncertainty had nearly caused a mix up between him and his goalkeeping colleague Robinson.
On 35 minutes David Beckham was given the chance to score with a free kick but his trademark bending shot was just wide of the goal with the keeper well beaten. It was a great effort from the England captain who more had been one of England’s better players during the game.
Half time saw both sides drawing a blank and for England it was back to the drawing board as far as getting their best players into the game was concerned.
On 60 minutes however they did take the lead with an excellent free kick from David Beckham beating the goalkeeper at his near post. The England captain delivered his trademark set piece with excellent accuracy and pace to ensure that a hand from the goalkeeper was not enough to prevent the ball finding the net.
For this point onwards however England became defensive and their tendency to sit back on a lead once more became evident. They did however still create chances and three minutes after the goal they were unlucky not to extend their lead through Frank Lampard. The Chelsea midfielder’s shooting which had been way off during the tournament was once more not up to it’s best as his half volley was dragged just wide of the right hand post.
Ecuador, looking for a way back into the game were nearly rewarded after good work down the left gave Delgado a shooting chance once more but this time it was Robinson who came to England’s rescue with a smart save to his right hand side.
Largely inactive throughout the game Robinson did terribly well to get down and palm the ball away for a corner.
There was still time for one more England chance and it was created by 20 year old Wayne Rooney down the left hand side. After controlling the ball and flicking it through the defender’s legs Rooney brushed his man off to lay the ball back to Lampard in the box. Once more however Lampard could not convert was leaning back he snatched as his shot as smashed it over the bar.
None the less it was the most unsatisfactory of victories for England who will know that they must do better when they meet Portugal or Holland in the quarter finals.