Horse 576 - Fortress England

It was probably generally considered that Ecuador would be a more difficult opponent than Germany in the Round of 16 because of their abilities to atttack savagely and play a style of football that would be difficult to counter. Tenorio's 11th minute chip very nearly broke English hearts, but the saviour was Ashley Cole who sprinted in from what seemed like 300 yards away and deflected the shot.

This was pretty well much the last spark of this encounter. Ecuador spent the rest of the match playing chasey against an English side that although could keep possession for hours, looked without imagination and flair. Even the prescence of Golden-Boy Wayne Rooney did little as they were without ideas. Lampard still seems intent on spraying footballs into the Rhine from on the pitch.

In fact if it wasn't for Beckham's free kick on the hour, England who were playing in white could be mistaken for Germany or worse, di Azzuri playing away. Shouts of "Boring, boring England" were heard from under the crosses of St George as they ended 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, Portugal and the Dutch at the moment are literally trading fists.

England 1
Beckham (60)

Ecuador 0