England Vs. Ecuador

England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is considering giving Michael Carrick his first World Cup finals appearance.

It is understood Eriksson may switch to a 4-5-1 system for the Ecuador game, with Wayne Rooney on his own up front.

Carrick is expected to come in for Owen Hargreaves, who will move to right-back with Jamie Carragher left out.

Central defender Rio Ferdinand is expected to play after recovering from the groin injury that kept him out of the Sweden game.

But Gary Neville is unlikely to play, even though he has almost recovered from a calf injury.

"Gary and Rio are both expected to do a full session tomorrow and then we will decide," Eriksson told Five Live Sport.

"I am more positive about Rio because of the fitness level. Hopefully they will both be ok injury wise."

And the 4-5-1 system would mean disappointment for Peter Crouch, who has started two of
England's three games so far with one goal to his name.

Ecuador will be at full strength after coach Luis Suarez rested several of his players for the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Germany.

Agustin Delgado and Carlos Tenorio, who have both scored twice in the World Cup, will start up front.

Fifa has announced that the referee will be Belgium's Frank De Bleeckere.

Lineups:

England (probable): Robinson; Hargreaves, Ferdinand, Terry, A Cole; Beckham, Gerrard, Carrick, Lampard, J Cole; Rooney.

Ecuador (probable): Mora; De la Cruz, Hurtado, Espinoza, Reasco; Mendez, Castillo, Valencia, Edwin Tenorio; Delgado, Carlos Tenorio.

BIG MATCH STATS

Head-to-heads

England and Ecuador have met only once before, a warm up friendly for the 1970 World Cup that England won 2-0 in Quito. Francis Lee and Brian Kidd provided the goals.

Team facts - England

England are participating in the World Cup for the 12th time. From Europe, only Germany and Italy have taken part more often. The 1966 winners have only been eliminated in the knock out stages by former World champions. They've been knocked out by a South American country on five occasions: 1954 (Uruguay), 1962 (Brazil), 1986 (Argentina), 1998 (Argentina) and 2002 (Brazil).

England are unbeaten since losing to Northern Ireland in September 2005. They had won eight straight matches before drawing with Sweden. Their last match in Stuttgart was in 1988 when they lost 1-0 to the Republic of Ireland at the European Championship.

Team facts - Ecuador

Ecuador have reached the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time. On their debut in 2002, they finished fourth in a group with Mexico, Italy and Croatia.

Ecuador are the eighth of 10 nations who play in South American qualification to successfully negotiate the group phase at the World Cup. The only nations from the continent to have failed to do this are Bolivia (two World Cup participations) and Venezuela (never qualified for the World Cup).

Player facts - England

England have not lost a match with Peter Crouch on the pitch. They have won nine and drawn one. Crouch has scored six goals in those matches. Theo Walcott could become the second youngest player ever at a World Cup. Should he take the field, Walcott will be 17 years and 101 days old, only 60 days older than all-time record holder Norman Whiteside. If Walcott scores, he'll be the youngest ever goalscorer, beating Pele's record of 17 years and 239 days.

If he participates, Ashley Cole will win his 50th cap. All his international matches have come under Eriksson's reign.

Player facts - Ecuador

Agustin Delgado is sole top scorer for Ecuador after netting his third World Cup goal against Costa Rica. In 2002, Delgado scored his first World Cup goal in Ecuador's 2-1 defeat against Mexico. He's also Ecuador's all-time top scorer with 31 goals in 70 matches.

Ulises de la Cruz is no stranger to the English players, as he has been playing for Aston Villa since 2002. In four seasons he has made 89 Premiership appearances for the Midlands' club.

Miscellaneous Info

Of the 32 teams who qualified for the World Cup, 15 are coached by a foreign manager, including these two - Ecuador by Colombian Luis Fernando Suarez and England by Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson.

From : BBC