World Cup: Beckham special put England through

A second-half free-kick from captain David Beckham proved enough to secure a 1-0 victory for England over Ecuador. In the 60th min, Beckham produced a superb delivery which had keeper Cristian Mora scrambling across his goal just to get a fingertip to the ball. But it wasn't enough as the ball went into the net. A good win but England still have the same problem of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in midfield. Those 2 can't play together. Only in the second-half when Eriksson move Gerrard to the left did England look dangerous. I suggest that Lampard be dropped. Lampard missed a lot of chances yesterday and looked very out of sorts. But without Deco, England must ready like their chances againest Portugal.

Portugal progressed to a quarter-final against England after eliminating Holland 1-0. The goal came in the 23rd min. Deco crossed dangerously from the right for Pauleta, who dropped a first-time ball back to Maniche. The midfielder made space for himself and hammer a right-footed drive into the top corner. But the game will be remembered for the 4 red cards, 2 for each team. Portugal will be very worried as one of the players sent off is Deco. Their best player in the World Cup. Bad luck for Portugal but even worse for Holland as they have played well in the World Cup. One wonders if things would have being different if Ruud van Nistelrooy started.