Nobody can bend it like Beckham.

David Beckham, England’s hottest hero, curled a trademark 25-yard free kick just inside the post, giving his team a sweet 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Sunday and a quarter-finals berth against the Netherlands or Portugal. England won this game as -200 favorites, while the game’s final score went  UNDER the posted total (2.5).

Beckham crashed his shot home from 35 meters on the hour mark of what had been a scrappy second round game played in sticky conditions at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion. It was a very precise shot, it was impossible to stop. We just have to congratulate Beckham. It was indeed a precised free kick.

Up next for the Lads are the undermanned Portugese who earned a similar 1-0 win over the Dutch in a brutal encounter. 16 yellow cards, 4 red cards? That can’t be good. It wasn’t pretty, but somehow they managed to squeak out a win. Down to nine men, Portugal advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to a first-half goal from Maniche.

Elbows and cleats flying. Players pushing and shoving. Coaches jawing and sniping. Yellow and red cards whipped out as if the referee was having a sale. Even a couple of brief skirmishes on the field.  So much for the beautiful game.

Portugal and the Netherlands got a year ahead of themselves Sunday night. Rugby’s World Cup is NEXT summer. This was supposed to be two traditionally strong nations playing soccer’s more genteel version, in the greatest spectacle in all of sports. It’s a pity that in the second half, very little football was played. Also a pity that a referee in such an important game should take decisions in this way.

Good luck to Portugal as they meet England on July 1. You may remember that Portugal won a penalty shootout against England at the 2004 European Championship quarterfinals. So yeah. Another day of World Cup action is behind us. Time to start thinking about the next matchups. Get all your World Cup bets at the Bodog Sportsbook.

Woo hoo. Okay so who’s next? Bring it on. Get all your World Cup odds at the Bodog Sportsbook.