Suarez proud of Ecuador's showing

Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez says his side could not have given any more in their second round loss to England.

"We gave everything for the Ecuadorian shirt. It was a complicated match, very difficult and very ordered tactically," Suarez said after the 1-0 defeat.

"Both teams haven't had a lot of chances to score. The match was defined by the only way it could have been defined, which was a stopped-ball play.

"We leave with our chins very high for all that we did."

Ecuador, in only their second World Cup finals, reached the knockout stage for the first time and Suarez feels their efforts will have laid a foundation for further improvement.

In qualifying they beat both Argentina and Brazil at home, and in Germany they became the first team to secure their passage into the last 16 with wins over Poland and Costa Rica.

"We're calm with what we've done here," the Colombian-born coach added.

"Sven-Goran Eriksson (England coach) told me we were a very good team and that if we go on this way, we'll improve a lot."

And he praised the efforts of goalscorer David Beckham and his "perfect" strike.

"Whenever there's a free-kick, obviously we have to be very much on the ball. We know of the precision that Beckham has when he takes their shots," Suarez said.

"It was a very precise shot, it was impossible to stop. You just have to congratulate Beckham. It was perfect.

"In football sometimes you lose not because of mistakes you make but from a great free-kick which was the case today."