Back in 1970, just before the World Cup in Mexico, England played Ecuador in Quito, and won 2-0, and then went on to have quite a good tournament.  This time the fixture was played in Miami, but England will be hoping that history may repeat itself and they can again go on to make an impact in the competition.  Mind you, they will have to be a lot more solid than they were here at the home of the Miami Dolphins.

This was another match in the warm up to the World Cup and it was a tough game for England against another of the tournament qualifiers.  The weather was warm and humid, a little more like England can expect over the coming weeks, and Roy Hodgson made a number of changes to the team that beat Peru at Wembley five days ago.  More of the squad players were given a chance and in the first few minutes England made a bright and positive start.  Wayne Rooney almost latched on to a through ball, Ross Barkley just failed to set up Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ricky Lambert so nearly put Rooney in again.  With a little luck England could have been well ahead, but just as they were congratulating themselves for this excellent start, Ecuador's first attack brought a goal on eight minutes.

A corner should have been given as James Milner tried to clear, and Oxlade-Chamberlain could also have cut out the danger, but the ball landed at the feet of Walter Ayovi and he quickly sent in a terrific cross.  Chris Smalling didn't jump high enough and Luke Shaw made no challenge on the marauding Enner Valencia who powered home an unstoppable header.

Ecuador's goalkeeper, Maximo Banguera, often elected to punch the ball clear and showed signs of a typical eccentric South American goalkeeper!  But he was effective as England tried to fight back from the shock of conceding a goal.  On 14 minutes a great flick from Barkley set up Rooney again, but he could only scuff his shot wide.  Two minutes later and England's defence was all over the place as Ecuador almost scored a second.  In the end Carlos Gruezo's shot was saved by Ben Foster.  The goalkeeper was left exposed far too often in the first half and again he had to block another shot as Ecuador threatened again.  Then, as the game swung from end to end, Barkley made one of those trademark powerful forward runs, and with the help of Oxlade-Chamberlain he came so close to an equaliser.  Only desperate defending saved the day for the South Americans.

Frank Lampard fired in a long range shot which Banguera tipped over, but too many England passes were going astray and Antonio Valencia hit one good shot over the bar for Ecuador.  But to be fair England kept pushing forward and on 28 minutes they equalised.  Good play by Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain saw a cross to the far post hit Lambert somewhere on the upper arm.  The ball dropped close to goal and Lambert then back-heeled the ball against a post as England scrambled around.  It was finally Rooney who made the vital touch to push it over the line, his 39th [ed: 38th] goal for his country, and despite the scrappy nature of the goal, the England talisman was delighted to score again.

Play still swung from end to end and the pace of the Ecuador wide men was certainly causing England problems, especially Milner, who looked uneasy in his right-back role. But Barkley and Oxlade-Chamberlain were looking very sharp, doing some super work and giving Hodgson plenty of food for thought.  It was good, too, to see Rooney looking as though he was enjoying his game, and that can only ever be good for England.

Just after the half-hour mark it was heart in the mouth time as Foster came hurtling out of his goal and missed the ball!  Luckily Enner Valencia lacked the necessary composure to fully punish the keeper and the ball went harmlessly wide.  At the other end Rooney came close when Shaw's pass came in from the left, and then Barkley had another attempt at goal.  Both managers would have been tearing their hair out at some of the defending, but it was England who came close again before the break.  First Rooney had a long range shot easily saved and then, following the best move of the half Oxlade-Chamberlain forced Banguera into the best save of the half.

The second half was a little more sedate, with the heat and tiredness gradually taking its' toll, but it certainly wasn't without incident.  Just as in the first-half England started brightly and six minutes into the half England were ahead.  A wonderful surging run by Barkley saw him stretch the Ecuador defence, and at the end of the run he laid the ball off perfectly for Lambert to crash home an unstoppable shot into the far corner.  Four minutes later and it was Oxlade-Chamberlain's brilliant run that almost set up Lambert again, but this time the shot was wide.

For the first time England looked more in control, but Ecuador weren't finished and Foster had to save from Antonio Valencia.  A real blow then struck England as Oxlade-Chamberlain was felled after a skirmish with Gruezo.  If body language was anything to go by then it looked serious for the Arsenal player, and everyone will be waiting for the result of the after-match scans he must now endure.

The injury seem to be the switch for Ecuador to come back again and over the next few minutes it was the South Americans who were controlling the play.  It culminated in an equaliser on 70 minutes, and what a strike it was!  Wilshere and Milner failed to close down substitute Michael Arroyo and the Ecuadorian punished them by hitting a screamer beyond Foster's despairing dive.

The many substitutions certainly upset the rhythm of the game in the latter stages, and that was probably no bad thing for England, although they received another blow when another major incident flared up on 78 minutes.  Substitute Raheem Sterling went in wildly on Antonio Valencia on the touchline, and in the hurly-burly of the Premier League it would probably have been no more than a yellow card.  But Valencia's over-the-top reaction as he grabbed Sterling by the throat, probably cost the pair of them their place on the pitch, as the referee showed both players red.  It was a shame as the game had previously been played in a good spirit, but Sterling will quickly have to learn how World Cup referees from other countries will interpret the laws of the game.

After that both sides seemed to settle for a draw and to be honest that was the fairest result.  It was a good workout for England but it was difficult to understand of what benefit it was to Hodgson, as it ended with more questions than answers.  Some players did their cause no harm, but others were found wanting and that is just a little worrying with a World Cup tournament just around the corner.
   

Source Notes