David Beckham's Stunning Free Kick Steers England Past Ecuador | 2006 FIFA World Cup

The two teams, led out by their respective captains, David Beckham of England, Ivan Hurtado of Ecuador. White, Ecuador, in yellow and blue. And these are two nations who've only ever played each other once, and that was in a friendly 36 years ago, on the eve of the World Cup Finals in Mexico. They're showing good tenacity here, Gerrard, inside for Lampard, who's had no joy as yet in these World Cups with his shooting, and this one just away from Rooney and out for the goal kick. Lampard nudging this ball, and just too far ahead of Rooney. And this might be a problem for them, Robinson who will find himself one-on-one, chance for Ecuador, hits the bar! What a let-off for England, as Carlos Tenorio found himself through on his own after that horrid lapse in defence, and should have given Ecuador a shock lead. English hearts stop beating here. Terry got under the ball, Tenorio, and we had Robinson to beat. And to be fair, the defender coming back here I think has just got a touch on this to deflect it against the England crossbar. Ashley Cole has served England brilliantly there. And Carlos Tenorio should have been a scorer for the third time in four World Cup games. Will Ecuador rue that moment? Another foul by Ferdinand, a free kick for Ecuador, slowly clawing their way into the game. It was straight through to Robinson, the flag was raised. England looking a little shaky to say the least. English supporters are certainly in good voice right now, even though their team is being held and conceding a free kick here. And it's going to be the first yellow card of this day for John Terry. He's already presented a scoring opportunity to Tenorio, and now he's got himself booked. Edison Mendes can crack them in here, he's the number eight in your picture. Number four is de la Cruz, it is Mendes, it's deflected and out. Well, it looks as though it came off for Rio Ferdinand. England's goal kick could yet be productive here because Joe Cole has it, and that will be a handball. Yep, well-spotted referee. And he was right there on the job, Could this be the moment for the England captain? Oh, it's a clever one, and it's found Gerrard over there. He'll lob it back in, in they come! And it's still there with Beckham again. England, it was a clever routine, that one. Everybody expected Beckham to go for goal. And that's the best that England have produced so far in terms of the set pieces. Between Gerrard and Carrick, and Gerrard through the eye of the needle. Lampard, shooting chest for Frank Lampard. Held by Moura. Frank Lampard has had more shots in these World Cup finals than anybody else, but he's still not found the net, which is very unusual for him. Oh, the Ecuador lose the ball there. But can Gerrard or Lampard, as Lampard initially latched on to it, and, well, Lampard was fouled. So Gerrard pops a quick free kick into the path of Ashley Cole, but it won't be allowed to happen. Now, this one is in a position of rich promise for the England captain. What next from the England skipper? With his wife willing him on here, it is through from Beckham, but wide. Just by how much it was wide. Three or four feet. We're coming to half-time, and the Belgian referee, Monsieur de Bleckere, says that is half-time. England have had barely a shot on goal here. So at the break, it is England nil, Ecuador nil. Lampard will try and feed this one for Rooney. Lovely touch from Rooney, Gerrard on his way, the ball across the danger zone, and it's got too much pace on it for anybody in white. Better from England, though, and it was a lovely flick from Rooney that really opened the way for Gerrard's cross. And have a free kick, and this is Beckham territory once more. Beckham dedicates hours in training to free kicks. He's opening his own academy next year, which will be one of the biggest in Europe. Maybe he can teach them all something about the taking of set pieces from this one here. Maybe they'll be replaying the video in years to come. Posh Spice looks on and hopes, as the rest of England hopes. It is David Beckham, and it's useful. Beckham scores for England. Posh Spice leads the applause. The breakthrough comes from the captain, much maligned, but his 17th goal for his country promises much for England. It promises a place in the quarterfinals. Ecuador resistance is broken at last. Well, I said it may find its way into a video collection. The Beckham free kick finds its way into the net just via the fingertips of goalkeeper Moura. Via the upright, it matters not. It's England 1, Ecuador 0 in Stuttgart. At last they have something to applaud. Oh, splits these sides. Up it goes for Gerrard. Down for Lampard. And Lampard with the shot just wide. The shots are raining in all of a sudden. And still Lampard can't find the net. I think he's up to about 20 shots now in this World Cup. Well, England have lost. Oh, and a shocking giveaway of the ball. England can seal it here with Lampard or with Rooney. And what was Lampard doing? He must have lost a bit of confidence there. Normally he would have taken that all on by himself. Joe Cole will, maybe. Good effective tackle on him and Ecuador survive. That was a really slack piece of defending from Ecuador to give the ball away like that. But they're still in the match. They're five forward now. Oh, and two England defenders missed the ball so it got to Delgado. Here is the shot which is beaten away by Robinson. One of the few saves he's had to make. This one from Luis Antonio Valencia who hits it well with the right foot. Swirling in and Robinson was taking no chances. But it is an Ecuador corner. They need an equaliser quickly. Robinson clutches it gratefully. 25 minutes remaining. A Beckham goal here for England. That is all they've had. I suppose the one bonus about Rooney's injury recently was that he's still fit and full of running and slips it back. Well, is Frank Lampard ever going to score a goal in these World Cup finals? He couldn't have had more opportunities and you'd have put your house on him scoring for Chelsea in most circumstances. Well, it would have been points at Twickenham or the Parc des Princes but there's nothing doing for Frank Lampard in a football jersey. It's Ecuador who need a goal otherwise they'll be on the plane back to Quito tomorrow. But they've graced these World Cup finals and they've set something up here for Mendes and there'll be two willing recipients in the centre if the ball is in decently enough. It's off Ferdinand's head. They need to get shots in on goal though. They've had very few of those. There might be one here. There was. A lapse by the England defence. Edson Mendes pulled it across the face of Robinson's net. And is Rooney going to get through 90 minutes here for the first time? Oh, he's played it across! Not even Frank Lampard could have missed that one with all due respect to him. He was coming in. If the goalkeeper hadn't just managed to get the glove on the ball Lampard would have had a tap-in from two yards. And surely England are going through and Ecuador are going out. Well, it was a tough, tough battle. And Ecuador have done their country proud here over the last fortnight. But they were just not good enough really to break down England who took it a long, long time. An hour in fact. David Beckham's free kick turned out to split the sides. It was a beautifully placed free kick which Moura could only just help on the inside of the upright. It's another match done with for Sven-Jørgen Eriksson. Another win. England have beaten Ecuador by a goal to nil.