The Hindu : Sport / Football : England promises to deliver against Ecuador

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Sunday, Jun 25, 2006

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England promises to deliver against Ecuador

Ecuador has proved it can win at sea level too, beating Poland and Costa Rica in Group A

BADEN-BADEN : England wants to start living up to its hype — something it's yet to do at this World Cup.

And if it fails to play well in its second round game against Ecuador on Sunday, it might be a long time before the team is good enough to win another major tournament.

``We don't want to waste these opportunities,'' England captain David Beckham said. ``They don't come round very often and it's up to us to take this chance.

``We've gone out of competitions where we should have gone further in the past. There have been certain excuses and things said by players and it's literally up to us now. We're the ones who can progress as a team and we can talk about the positive stuff said about us and the fans but what the team do on the pitch is the major thing.''

England won the World Cup in 1966 but the closest it's gone since was the 1990 semifinals, where it lost on penalties. Four years ago, England let a 1-0 lead slip and lost 2-1 to 10-man Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Sunday's match in Stuttgart will be the first time Ecuador has played a final 16 match at the World Cup.

Seven of Ecuador's eight qualifying wins came more than 2,700 meters (9,000 feet) feet above sea level at the home stadium in Quito. But it's proved it can win at sea level too, beating Poland 2-0 and Costa Rica 3-0 in Group A before a weakened lineup lost 3-0 to Germany.

Ecuador all prepared

Ecuador is prepared for all scenarios against England, which has a poor record in the penalty shootouts that determine who advances if the score is tied after regulation and extra time.

England has exited in three of its last five tournaments by shootout — the 1996 European Championship semifinal to Germany, the 1998 World Cup round of 16 to Argentina and the 2004 European Championship quarterfinal to Portugal.

``We getting ready and planning the game in three different ways: one game of 90 minutes, one of 120 and one to be decided by penalty kicks,'' Ecuador assistant coach Armando Osma said.

Ecuador might not even need extra time. In each of England's games so far, there's been a noticeable drop in the team's performance after halftime.

``There's been issues when we haven't played as well in the second half as we have in the first half,'' Beckham said. ``We have to put that right as players. We're the only people who can do that.''

Ecuador will recall forwards Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado, who were left out of the Germany game because of injuries.

England will start with just one fully-fit, experienced striker in Peter Crouch after Michael Owen was sent home Wednesday with a serious knee injury. Wayne Rooney will start alongside Crouch but is not 100 percent back from a broken foot sustained April 29.

The backup is 17-year-old Theo Walcott, who is yet to play a minute in Germany but could make his World Cup debut if England has a comfortable lead.

But when Rooney's playing well, so does England. In the first half against Sweden, England played its best soccer so far in Germany. Rooney tired in the second half, and was taken off after 69 minutes but it's hoped he'll play longer on Sunday.

Rio Ferdinand should recover from a groin strain to start in central defence. — AP

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