England 1 - Ecuador 0

England did well to beat Ecuador in Stuttgart to progress to the quarter finals and will now face Portugal. The only goal in the match was scored by David Beckham in a free kick, unfortunately after I had just said how unispired his play was at present, especially from free kicks! It was almost as if he scored to prove me wrong! It was a superb kick and just popped in the goalpost as the Ecuadorian goal keeper dived to the edge of his goal but the ball just sneaked in the corner. It meant there was relief all over England, we will just have to see how long this relief will continue, as we play Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal next Saturday.

When David Beckham scored his goal he became the first England player to score at three World Cups but it took England nearly 60 minutes to get the goal. Beckham had not scored a goal for England for more than three years. Ecuador had a better start and could have gone in front early in the 12th minute when Carlos Tenorio's shot was deflected off Ashley Cole and then on to the cross bar after John Terry made a mistake. John Terry redeemed himself later on and was awarded man of the match by FIFA.

Frank Lampard had another struggler missing two good chances but England had done enough to get the win and they appear to have done it without picking up any injuries. On the whole the match wasn't really an entertainer and two England players were booked for time wasting but England fans won't mind because all that matters to them is that England have made it to the quarter finals where I have just learned they will take on Portugal in Gelsenkirchen on 1 July. Anyway, we made it through another stage in the world cup, all I will say is that they will have to improve their play if they want to progress further in the competition!