CUP ROUNDUP | Thursday's games

England 2, Trinidad and Tobago 0
NUREMBERG, Germany -- Peter Crouch and his England teammates spent most of the game missing chances in front of the net. With the time ticking away and England only minutes from a shocking draw against tiny Trinidad and Tobago, Crouch made the best of his last opportunity. Crouch headed in a cross by David Beckham in the 83rd minute to help England advance to the second round of the World Cup. "It was disappointing, but you can't let your head drop and obviously you've got to keep getting in there," Crouch said. "I think with our delivery, and especially from David Beckham from the right, I think you're always going to get other chances. Thankfully I managed to take one of them." Steven Gerrard added a goal in injury time and England got its second straight win in Group B to clinch a spot in the next round. England controlled play for most of the game, but Crouch and others missed countless good chances, raising Trinidad's hopes of holding its second straight favorite to a 0-0 draw. "People expected us to walk through this game," Beckham said. "We knew they were going to play 11 men behind the ball. They made it hard for us all game. We knew if we kept to our game plan that we'd break them down." England got a boost from Wayne Rooney's early return from a broken foot in the 58th minute, and finally broke through near the end. Aaron Lennon, the 19-year-old winger who came on in the second half, got the ball to Beckham in open space on the right side. Beckham took his time and found the 6-foot-7 Crouch in front of the Trinidad net. Crouch leapt over Brett Sancho and headed the ball past Shaka Hislop for England's first second-half goal in a World Cup since 1998 -- eight games since Michael Owen scored against Romania. "To be honest, I think he was all over my back," Sancho said. "He was definitely pulling me back and definitely over my back. Then again, we're tiny Trinidad and Tobago. There's no way the referee is going to blow that whistle." Crouch's goal brought relief to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and his players, who seemed to be just minutes away from a stunning scoreless draw. "We are always relieved when you go at a team as much as we did and we got nothing for 80 minutes," Beckham said. "But we were always creating chances and if we had taken them, we would have been a few up. The positive thing was that we finished strong and kept creating chances." England joined Germany and Ecuador, which has advanced from Group A. The English will play one of those teams in the next round.
Ecuador 3, Costa Rica 0
HAMBURG, Germany -- Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado scored their second goals of the tournament for Ecuador, a country with few international sports triumphs. In the Olympics, its only medal came at the 1996 Atlanta Games, when Jefferson Perez won the gold in the 20-kilometer walk. Back in Quito, the streets filled with celebrators. Ecuador and host Germany (both 2-0) claimed the two berths from Group A and will meet England, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago or Paraguay in the second round. Ecuador plays the Germans on Tuesday, needing only a tie to claim first place. Costa Rica and Poland (both 0-2) became the first teams eliminated from the 32-nation field. Tenorio scored in the eighth minute and Delgado in the 54th. Ivan Kaviedes scored two minutes into injury time.
Sweden 1, Paraguay 0
BERLIN -- Fredrik Ljungberg's 89th-minute header gave Sweden a 1-0 victory over Paraguay on Thursday night and put the Swedes in position to move into the second round. Marcus Allback headed a pass from the top-left corner of the 6-yard box to a charging Ljungberg on the opposite side of the goalmouth. Ljungberg jumped and powerfully headed the ball down to the far side to win it. When the ball passed goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla's outstretched hand, the players and coaches on the Swedish bench jumped to their feet. And the overwhelmingly pro-Sweden crowd roared its approval. Sweden opened the World Cup with a 0-0 tie with Trinidad and Tobago, and looked headed for another goal-less game. Then Ljungberg rescued the Swedes, who are second to England, which has six points in Group B and already has made the second round. Sweden has four. Paraguay's second loss eliminated it.
Associated Press