England 1-0 Ecuador: Becks Responds to Critics

Masterful game plan by England today: rest for the first half, hope for a draw going in at the interval, then come out like gangbusters in the second half. At least that's the way I saw it. In the 92º heat, wouldn't that make sense?

And hats off to David Beckham. Maybe his many critics will give it a rest for a while. From The Guardian:

Lord knows England need to find some penetration on the flanks, what with Joe Cole having to come in from the left to get the ball on to his stronger foot while David Beckham's lack of acceleration is denying the team similar opportunities to reach the byline on the right. The captain from Castille is looking less of a leader than ever. (Emphasis added.)

Becks had this to say after the match (from BBC Sport):

"It was an ugly performance but it was what we wanted and we'll take ugly performances....It was nice to silence a few people who have been critical. I can handle my criticism and I'll prove them wrong. It was a great feeling to get a goal and put us into the quarter-final."

The bottom line: England won this game, they never really looked like losing, and they're on they're way to the quarter finals. With some better finishing by Mssrs. Lampard and Gerrard, they might have won going away. We now wait to find out who we play on Saturday, Portugal or the Netherlands. Why do I have the feeling that somehow, that game will be easier?