Soccer: England win but do little to impress

England's David Beckham celebrates his goal in this morning's knock-out match against Ecuador with teammate Ashley Cole. Picture / Reuters

STUTTGART - When Sven-Goran Eriksson predicted before the start of the tournament that England could win the World Cup few took the Swedish coach too seriously.

Decades of disappointment since their 1966 triumph have left only the most rose-tinted of England fans dreaming of another triumph.

Not many are likely to have joined the Berlin bandwagon, despite England reaching the quarter-finals for the second successive finals after a laboured 1-0 win over Ecuador this morning.

Eriksson, like so many coaches, will point to a team winning despite playing below-par as a positive sign but there were few pointers in Stuttgart that his side have the quality to go all the way and lift the trophy on July 10 NZT.

Surprisingly for a team based in Baden-Baden, renowned for its reviving spring waters, England have shown little fizz in Germany and struggled again to impose themselves in suffocating temperatures.

It took a trademark David Beckham freekick to lift the yawn-factor, the captain evoking memories of his stunning goal against Greece to take England through to the 2002 finals with another perfect set-piece that left Ecuador keeper Cristian Mora clutching at thin air.

Eriksson had opted to pack his midfield, fielding Michael Carrick, making his competitive debut, as the holding midfielder and leaving Wayne Rooney to plough a lone furrow up front.

His tactics, despite an early defensive scare when Carlos Tenorio should have scored, helped stifle the South Americans but there was little creativity from the men in white either.

The result was a fragmented 90 minutes, notable for little goalmouth action, misplaced passes, niggly tackles and too much time-wasting that contributed to six yellow cards shown by Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere.

Rooney produced one sublime moment when he took down a long ball on the left touchline and then nutmegged Ecuador captain Ivan Hurtado but he was a frustrated figure, at one point bawling at a linesman for not being awarded a freekick.

Beckham's goal on the hour should have drawn Ecuador out of their shells but Luis Fernando Suarez's side, who won their opening two games to reach the last 16 for the first time, showed little invention.

Midfielder Edwin Tenorio summed up their limited firepower when he optimistically shot high and wide from 45 metres.

England now meet the winners of this morning's game between the Netherlands and Portugal.

In their four games to date they have played against sides world ranked 16 (Sweden), 33 (Paraguay), 39 (Ecuador) and 47 (Trinidad & Tobago). Now will come the real test against opponents in FIFA's top 10.

- REUTERS