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The coach of the England national team, Sven-Goran Eriksson, stated after the match with Ecuador that he believed his tactical formation of 4-5-1 had paid off.
“I think it worked well – the tactical formation. We should have scored more goals, but I am happy that we have reached the quarterfinals again. We didn't play as well as we could, but that will come later” - Eriksson promised to improve the game of his players. “We are in the quarterfinals and I hope the result will be better than last time.”
David Beckham said that by scoring a goal he responded to all those who criticized him: "It was nice to silence the people who criticized me. I can take criticism and prove that they are not right."
“It was a great feeling to score a goal and lead the team to the quarterfinals” – the team captain rejoiced.
Beckham also admitted that the English team did not play good football: “It wasn't a beautiful game, but it was exactly what we wanted.”
The coach of the Ecuador national team, Luis Fernando Suarez, said that his players did everything they could in this match.
“We gave everything to defend the honor of Ecuador's jersey. The match was complicated, very difficult and well tactically arranged. Both teams did not have many opportunities to score. The match can be described in one way, it was a game of stopping the ball movement.” – analyzed the strategist.
Qualifying for only their second World Cup in the country's history, Ecuadorians reached the knockout stages for the first time and hope for further success.
“We are satisfied with what we have achieved. Sven-Goran Eriksson told me that we are a very good team and if we continue to play like this, we will improve greatly.” – Suarez spoke after the match.
In the coach's opinion, Beckham's penalty kick was unstoppable: “It was a very accurate shot, impossible to stop. One can only congratulate Beckham. The shot was perfect. In football, sometimes you lose not because of your mistakes, but because of a missed well-executed penalty kick, as it happened today” – Suarez consoled.
After beating Ecuador 1-0 in the World Cup round of 16, the England national team advanced to the tournament's quarterfinals.
