David Beckham defied dehydration and heat exhaustion to score the goal which earned England a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

The England captain was feeling ill before the game although bizarrely Sven-Goran Eriksson claimed he did not know of the dilemma of the Real Madrid star.

Beckham was clearly determined to play and was well below his best with a series of poor set-piece deliveries.

But he came up trumps on the hour mark to score a 25-yard free-kick and defeat Ecuador 1-0 in Stuttgart.

It was Beckham's 17th goal for his country - his first in 13 games since netting against Azerbaijan.

But he was clearly struggling and was seen to vomit on the pitch before being substituted and replaced by Aaron Lennon with three minutes remaining.

An FA spokesman said: "We have spoken to (physio) Gary Lewin and basically he says David was suffering from dehydration before the game and heat exhaustion.

"It was basically down to the constant heat. As much as the players are trying to get as much fluid down them, it is still difficult conditions.

"David is not feeling particularly well and it is simply down to the heat. He doesn't look at his best."

The England players consumed 70 litres of fluids during the game - the same amount as in the opening game against Paraguay.