STUTTGART, Germany — David Beckham sent the ball twisting and turning, curving and curling. Ever so carefully, it hooked over a defensive wall of four Ecuadoreans in bright yellow shirts. Then, like a frisbee, it took a turn, heading down and to the corner.

Ecuador goalkeeper Cristian Mora dived to his right, but there was little he could do. He caught a piece of the ball with his fingertips, but couldn't stop it from grazing the post and squirting into the net.

With a trademark 25-yard free kick in the 60th minute Sunday, Beckham gave England a 1-0 victory over Ecuador and a World Cup quarterfinal berth against Portugal.

"I have stopped saying anything to the critics about David Beckham," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. "He's maybe the best player on set pieces in the world, and he's still criticized."

Beckham had been feeling nauseous, and England's offense was just as sickly, with nothing to show for an hour of aimless passing.

A few minutes after scoring his first goal for England in nearly 15 months, he vomited on the field because of dehydration. He left the match in the 87th minute.

"The last two days I've been struggling, even in training," Beckham said.

Then he recounted what teammate Wayne Rooney had told him to give him a lift: "Wazza said to me before the game, `You've been terrible the last two days, so you're going to get one tonight.' "

Seeking its first World Cup title since 1966, England will face an undermanned Portugal team that beat the Netherlands 1-0 Sunday.