England 1 Paraguay 0:England needed an own goal by Paraguay captain Carlos Gamarra to grind out a 1-0 victory in today's Group B opener.

Sven Goran Eriksson's side made a dream start on a hot afternoon at the Waldstadion when Gamarra headed a David Beckham free kick into his own net after three minutes.
   
But they failed to show the killer instinct their coach had urged and at times rode their luck against skilful opponents.
   
England, who had lost two and drawn one of the opening games in their last three tournaments, will be satisfied though with a winning start in a physical encounter.
   
"We suffered a lot," Eriksson told BBC television. "This was the first real hot, hot day and that knocked us a bit in the second half.
   
"The most important thing was to get three points today and we got them. It was a good start."
   
The first attack produced a goal when Beckham's ball soared into the danger zone and Gamarra sent a glancing header past keeper Justo Villar under pressure from Michael Owen and John Terry.

Things got worse for Paraguay four minutes later when an injured Villar was replaced by 20-year-old reserve Aldo Bobadilla, the fastest keeper substitution in World Cup history.
   
The newcomer promptly gave away a free kick inside his area, Frank Lampard's shot came back off the wall and though he ballooned the follow-up, the midfielder then warmed Bobadilla's gloves with a 25-metre drive.
   
England were in control, despite several crunching tackles by both sides, with Paraguay defending tenaciously and shooting from distance.
   
Striker Nelson Valdez had their best chance before the break with a shot that flew narrowly wide. Paraguay were more ambitious after the break and Valdez again made the more threatening moves.
   
Striker Owen, recently back from a lengthy injury layoff, made way after 56 minutes for midfielder Stewart Downing.
   
Joe Cole, who had been giving Paraguay a torrid time down the left, was pushed up as a strike partner for Peter Crouch, himself standing in for injured Wayne Rooney.
   
Paraguay nearly levelled when Paul Robinson flapped at a cross but Carlos Paredes failed to get his effort on target.

Beckham blamed England's fading performance on the heat rather than the manager's decision to take off Owen.

The skipper, who played a crucial part in the early winner, said on BBC1:"You don't realise how hot it was out there. We were good at times but we gave away the ball too much. But it was hot and we got what we wanted. That was a good start and we have the three points.

"The performance could be better but we will work on that. We set out to get the three points and we did that. We let them (Paraguay) pass the ball around too much.

"But we were exhausted. We can put it down to that because we are usually strong and our fitness levels are high."

Looking ahead to the next match, Beckham predicted a later kick-off - 5pm in Nuremberg on Thursday - might suit England better.

"We will be alright. This was a three o'clock kick-off and is right in the middle the day. It was 28 or 29 degrees out there," he said. "We must perform better and play better but we got what we wanted."

He added: "I don't think we lost our shape too much after Michael had gone off and South American teams play the ball through well."