Wayne Rooney

BADEN BADEN, Germany (Reuters):

ENGLAND WILL pin their World Cup hopes on some Wayne Rooney magic when they face Ecuador in today's second round in Stuttgart.

Despite wins over Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago, and a 2-2 draw with Sweden, England failed to show their real potential in a mediocre Group B campaign.

Rooney, who played 32 minutes against the Soca Warriors after breaking a bone in his foot in April and a further 69 against Sweden, has only given glimpses of his true ability.

With striker Michael Owen at home with a ruptured cruciate ligament and the knockout phase upon them, England need their best player to come good in a game that really counts.

Rooney has shown part of his repertoire with some nice passing and link-up play with the midfielders, but there has been little sign of his surging runs at defenders.

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will hope to have the 20-year-old in even better shape today as he prepares to pair him with Peter Crouch.

PROVEN MARKSMAN

Eriksson could also do with midfielder Frank Lampard re-discovering his scoring boots. Having hit 20 for Chelsea last season and 10 for England in his previous 22 games, Lam-pard came to Germany as a proven marksman.

Nothing has gone right for him so far, with his shots either soaring over the bar or straight into the keeper's arms.

The defence also needs to improve after conceding two goals against the Swedes to set-pieces, the bread-and-butter of a Premier League defender's life.

Eriksson may need to re-shuffle if Rio Ferdinand fails to recover in time from a groin problem, with Owen Hargreaves likely to play at right back and Jamie Carragher switching to central defence.

If they are not on song, England are destined to struggle against an Ecuador side whose 3-0 drubbing by Germany should not be taken at face value.

Coach Luis Fernando Suarez made five changes from the team who booked them into the last 16 with a classy 3-0 win over Costa Rica after they beat Poland 2-0.

Defender Ivan Hurtado and midfielder Segundo Castillo were rested, due to yellow cards and the risk of a ban, while defender Neicer Reasco should also return.

Strikers Agustin Delgado and Carlos Tenorio, who had previously scored two goals apiece, made way as Suarez experimented with Ivan Kaviedes and Felix Borja.

"I don't think it was the real Ecuador we saw against Germany," said Eriksson. "The real Ecuador was against Poland and Costa Rica."