Ecuador Wary of Rooney

The strength of Wayne Rooney inevitably was the focus as Ecuador completed their preparations for Sunday's World Cup last-16 encounter against England in Stuttgart.

Coach Luis Fernando Suarez said: "We must pay attention to him because he can make a difference at any moment.

"He's very fast and it's difficult to disturb his movements with or without the ball."

But while Suarez has warned his side of Rooney's power, he has drawn confidence from the fact that England have yet to produce a world-class performance in Germany despite heading Group B.

He said: "If they play at the level they have been playing at we can win.

"But with such talented players you can always see them producing a good performance. Brazil were pretty quiet in their first two matches but improved against Japan."

Ecuador have just one fitness doubt in midfielder Edison Mendez, who has a muscle strain.

Otherwise, strikers Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado, rested for the 3-0 defeat by Germany, should return along with captain Ivan Hurtado and midfielder Segundo Castillo.

Delgado, 31, scored two goals in the first two games, won the man-of-the-match award each time and is the biggest threat to England's progression at this tournament.

It is all a far cry from the player who cost Southampton £4million, featured in a dozen games, scored one Premiership goal, against Arsenal, but left the south-coast club after a host of dubious injuries.

Delgado, who retires from international football as his country's record scorer - he has 31 at present - following the World Cup, wants to prove to an English audience that solitary goal was no fluke.

He says: "You have to give way to the youngsters on the way up. And playing for the national side takes too much out of you, demands too much time and travelling around. I'll not continue beyond the World Cup."

From : World Cup 365