Day 7

Ecuador have been the surprise package of this world cup - so far. They have scored 5 goals and have conceded none. If they can keep their tempo for the next round, all the other leading contenders should take a good look at them - especially England and Sweden , as one of them will have to fight it out in the next round. As soon as the first goal went in, yet again by Carlos Tenorio, Ecuador never looked to be in any trouble and Delgado put the game beyond the Costa Ricans. Kaviedes added a third in injury time to add the icing on the cake and send Costa Rica catch the early flight back home. In the first half, much of the possession was with Ecuador with Costa Rica having the occasional chances but the second half proved to be more lively as they attacked more and had a good share of the possession as well. But in the end, they had to walk away, knowing the third game does not change anything and will be heading home soon.
Ecuador 3-0 Costa Rica
8-Tenorio(ECU), 54-Delgado(ECU), 90-Kaviedes(ECU)

Ahh...England, England! What do I say? I have the Union Jack flying high in my apartment, but after seeing them play in the two games, maybe I should bring down to half-mast. The flair and attack of the English is dead and buried! Even though they started brightly and were attacking with full flow, they were not able to direct most of the strikes at the goal! And Lampard, dear Lord, he would not have scored even if he had played till midnight! The ever dependent Chelsea midfielder was way off target and had around 8 chances! I had said, the key was Lampard, and he certainly seemed to prove it!England were struggling! Crouch and Owen missed clear chances as well, especially Crouch, who had an absolute sitter but missed his volley by almost a mile! At the other end, Paul Robinson was having a field day, that is if he was a clown! The English stopper, who is normally at his best, was hopelessly flapping at air for most of the crosses, and Terry kept saving the blushes. England would have gone behind, was it not for Terry who made a stunning goal line clearance, as Robinson had made a another bad decision and had rushed out only to miss the ball completely. With half an hour remaining, Sven brought on Rooney (there were cries of Rooney all over the stadium) and Lennon for Owen and Carragher respectively. This sparked a change in the way England played. Rooney was the morale booster and Lennon was the real threat down the right.England kept pouring forward and left only three men in the defence - actually it was a one-man defence with Terry. As England poured forward on all sides, T&T were getting desperate to hang on to the point and the result was a number of fouls in dangerous positions. Finally, the clock struck 83 minutes, Beckham sent in another fine ball, Crouch rose high in the air and his bullet header hit the back of the net. England have finally scored! The relief on Beckham's face was clearly visible and the fans were back on their feet. This was the goal they were hoping for! In injury time, Gerrard, who had slipped into an anonymous role, struck a sweet volley - a typical Gerrard drive - to finish off the game in style and hand a 2-0 win to the Englishmen! Another good game for Beckham and Terry and not a memorable one for Lampard and Robinson.
England 2-0 Trinidad & Tobago
83-Crouch(ENG), 90-Gerrard(ENG)

The Swedes had to win to keep them the favourites to go to the next round along with England and as expected started in a thundering mood. But the solid Paraguay defence easily held on to the attack and kept them at bay. The Scandinavians were searching for the elusive goal and brought on a surprise substitution for the second half. Allback on for Ibrahimovic! Defender in the place of a Striker and even more surprising was that he lined up next to Larsson. With the lively Allback and Larsson providing the strikes it looked like it was just a matter of time before the took the lead. But they kept the fans waiting till the 89th minute, when after some good work by Allback, Arsenal's Ljungberg headed in a dramatic winner and ensured they qualified for the next round.
Sweden 1-0 Paraguay
89-Ljungberg(SWE)