By The Associated Press

STUTTGART, Germany – David Beckham was feeling nauseous. England’s offense was just as sickly, with nothing to show for an hour of aimless passing against Ecuador in the 90-degree heat.

Then Beckham’s right foot lived up to its fame, squeezing England into the World Cup quarterfinals.

Beckham curled a trademark 25-yard free kick just inside the post in the 60th minute Sunday, his first goal for England in nearly 15 months – and the lone highlight in an otherwise ugly 1-0 victory over Ecuador.

A few minutes later, he vomited on the field because of dehydration, and 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 next plays Saturday against Portugal, which beat the Netherlands 1-0, but will have two starters – Deco and Costinha – suspended for the match.

While Beckham is soccer’s best-known player, he is far from the best, a 31-year-old midfielder criticized for his lack of defense and inability to score from the run of play.

But his status as a cultural icon has grown in his decade with England, especially since his marriage to pop star Victoria Adams, formerly known as Posh Spice. He has opened a soccer academy in California, and he is considering ending his career in the U.S. with Major League Soccer.

His goal ended a 13-match scoreless streak dating to a World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on March 30, 2005.

For England, the wait was worth it. “Obviously, Becks is crucial,” teammate Owen Hargreaves said.

Before Beckham’s goal, the English surrendered chances to Ecuador and missed a few of their own. The game finally turned when Edwin Tenorio fouled Frank Lampard outside the penalty area, giving England the free kick.

The English captain, whose darting shots inspired the 2003 movie titled “Bend it Like Beckham,” snatched the ball from the referee, lined up his planned trajectory and sent the ball spinning and twisting toward the goal.

Portugal 1, Netherlands 0

NUREMBERG, Germany – Portugal scored the game’s only goal, and things got brutal from there: Cleats bashed into thighs and shoulders, heads butted and elbows flew. Never had more yellow cards been pulled in a World Cup match.

The Portugese survived with a 1-0 victory Sunday over the Netherlands, sending them to the World Cup quarterfinals against England. But they’ll play minus Deco and Costinha, two key starters who were ejected amid the pushing, shoving and theatrics that left both teams with nine men by the end.

The 23 red cards in this tournament – whose motto is “A time to make friends” – is already a World Cup record after 52 matches with 12 to go.

Portugal also lost Cristiano Ronaldo, a creative attacker, who came off with a leg injury from a second harsh foul. His status was uncertain.

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led home country Brazil to the title in 2002, extended his World Cup record mark to 11 straight victories. None of his wins could have been more chaotic or venomous than this.

“FIFA talks about fair play,” Scolari said. “There was no fair play. It was a heroic victory.”

The bile began to rise after Maniche scored in the 23rd minute. All the collisions and subsequent flopping led to a World Cup record-tying 16 yellow cards – nine for Portugal and seven for the Netherlands.

Maniche’s goal came off a quick threat on the edge of the area. Pauleta touched the ball to Maniche, who skipped inside a defender and shot right-footed past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar from 16 yards.

Van der Sar had his mouth open in exasperation as the ball hit the net. Others soon had the same expression for entirely different reasons.

“It is a pity the referee made a mess of this game,” Netherlands coach Marco van Basten said.

Despite a flurry of chances, a ball on the bar from Phillip Cocu and relentless pressing, the Netherlands’ famed finishing let them down yet another time in Germany.

“Our missed opportunities, that made the difference,” said Van der Sar.

The Dutch have now been eliminated from two straight major tournaments by Portugal.

As host at the 2004 European Championship, Portugal beat the Dutch 2-1 in the semifinals, when Maniche also scored the winning goal.

The Netherlands also lost two players to red cards from Russian referee Valentin Ivanov – Khalid Boulahrouz and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Amid the expulsions, the Portuguese simply held together better than the Dutch.

“From the start of the tournament our great strength has resided in our unity and the great support of the whole country,” said Figo.

In two minutes before halftime, the game could have turned.

First, Van der Sar produced a stunning save on a point-blank shot from Pauleta in the goalmouth. Moments later, Costinha inexplicably handled a simple through pass for his second yellow card.

By that time, Ronaldo was already in tears on the bench after he left the field injured following an ugly, high tackle into his groin from Boulahrouz.

It set up a thrilling second half, with an outmanned Portugal facing a Dutch team still looking for its touch.

In the 63rd, however, Boulahrouz elbowed the irrepressible Figo on another run, earning his second yellow card.

Deco later lost his poise and first made a wild tackle on defender John Heitinga and followed it up with childish timewasting in the 76th minute, prompting Ivanov to send him off.

In injury time, Van Bronckhorst was sent off for a second yellow card, making it nine-on-nine for the final seconds. The Barcelona teammates sat together in the dugout to watch the finale.

With most of the capacity crowd of 41,000 at the Franken Stadium roaring for the Netherlands, the Portuguese held on for one of its most famous victories.

AP-ES-06-25-06 1826EDT