DESPITE seeing his team's World Cup hopes extinguished by a single moment of brilliance by the England captain David Beckham, Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez was proud of the performance of his team.
Suarez said his players had matched England throughout most of their second-round game and with luck might even have had a goal of their own but were simply powerless to stop Beckham's superb second-half free kick which gave them their 1-0 victory.
"In football, sometimes you lose not because of mistakes you make but from a great free kick, which was the case today," Suarez said.
"It was a very precise shot, it was impossible to stop, you just have to congratulate Beckham. It was perfect."
Ecuador's best chance to score came early in the first half when striker Carlos Tenorio's shot was deflected by England's Ashley Cole on to the cross bar, preventing an almost certain goal.
"I was very sorry that ball didn't go in at the beginning of the game. It might have changed things," Suarez said. "The way the game was going perhaps they would have opened up their lines a bit more and we could have scored [again]."
Despite his team's defeat, Suarez declared himself pleased with the performance at only their second appearance at the finals. "We really are very satisfied with the way we played. I think there was a mutual respect between the teams and this is good for Ecuador.
"This was only our second time at the World Cup but it showed we are up to par. Our objective was to make the second round and we did that. We're satisfied but we always thought we could achieve something more."
Ecuador finished second in Group A behind Germany but booked their place in the second round by beating Poland and Costa Rica and Suarez said their performances had shown they were able to play on the biggest stage. We feel positive because Ecuador was an unknown country and our tactical strategies were good," he said. "Today we were playing against England, so it wasn't easy. It was a midfield game, more complicated for both teams.
"I think that our rivals respected us today. This says a lot about what the England coach [Sven-Goran Eriksson] thought about us.
"A lot of people were very sceptical about us, a lot of people thought we would probably lose all three games. So I am very proud of my players."
Suarez also believed the performances at the World Cup had earned Ecuador a respect they had been denied even in beating Brazil and Argentina in qualifying. "People believed Ecuador were a team who win only because they take profit from their geographical height (their capital Quito is more than 9,000ft above sea level). We must be very satisfied.
"The World Cup is a spectacular tournament, an experience that I hadn't believed could be so big.
"But it is tiring. I want to go back to my homeland, be with my family and analyse what we'll do from now onwards, to forget football for some time."
The full article contains 559 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
