Berlin: David Beckham loves proving his critics wrong, particularly using the favourite part of his game ? free-kicks.

His curling free-kick gave England a 1-0 win over Ecuador in the World Cup second round on Sunday. Beckham said it was one of his most important goals after a constant stream of criticism from the British press and former England players.

“Definitely,” he said. “It’s always nice when you have had a certain amount of criticism to score a goal that puts your country through to the quarter finals. There was a lot of personal satisfaction for myself with that goal and also being the first English player to score in three consecutive World Cups. That was a big thing for me as well.” (AP)