Ecuador’s national team is allowed to play the opening game of the World Cup right at the start – against hosts Qatar. The team has big plans for the tournament.
The trainer
Gustavo Alfaro has written a book about the Ecuadorian national team’s journey to the finals of the World Cup in Qatar. It is entitled “Hunters of Impossible Utopias”. In August 2020 he began his mission in Ecuador. The association had previously sent the Argentine through match analysis software as one of 20 candidates because Jordi Cruyff, son of Dutch striker Johan Cruyff, who was already hired for the job, had resigned before the first international match.
Alfaro, who was called “Lechuga” (“garden salad”) as a little boy because of his curly hair, had previously worked almost exclusively for clammy Argentine clubs for 30 years. He has learned to develop talent and use them to form successful teams. Alfaro, who studied chemical engineering for football, has accompanied the past four World Cup tournaments as a TV commentator. “No one can set limits,” he said before his World Cup debut. That sounds like a book title too.
The star
Ener Valencia has a busy life. As a child he milked cows with his father Remberto and sold the milk on the streets. Football has given him great prestige. He is the record goalscorer and captain of Ecuador. The 32-year-old (turns 33 on November 4) is still lightning fast and is therefore also referred to as “Superman” by fans and the media.
For the national team of Ecuador, called “La Tri” (“La Tricolor”, the tricolor; yellow stands for the diversity of the country, blue for the sky and the sea and red for the blood of those who fought for independence), met Valencia for the first time shortly before the 2014 World Cup. The attacker also drew attention to himself with three goals at the World Cup tournament in Brazil (preliminary round) and finally switched to England’s Premier League club West Ham United. Today he strikes for Fenerbahce Istanbul.
Ecuador’s star and captain Enner Valencia
But Valencia has also had less glamorous stories to answer for. In October 2016, authorities were looking for the striker over outstanding child support payments. In the middle of a game against Chile, he faked a collapse and had himself transported from the field to an ambulance in a golf cart. Officers ran after him, Valencia escaped and remained at large. Now he wants to shoot his country into the round of 16.
Players to Watch
keep your eyes open Gonzalo Plata, 21 (he will be 22 on November 1), who was one of the best tournament players when the then South America champions sensationally took third place at the 2019 U20 World Cup. Front whirls next to the winger still Moses Caicedo, 20 (he will be 21 on November 2nd). His club Brighton & Hove Albion also strengthened the Premier League with full-back Pervis Estupinan for the Ecuadorian record fee of around 18 million euros. Because the 24-year-old works on the left lane, Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie moves more into the defensive center. At the age of 20, the Bayer talent is also one of the sporting promises for the future.
Usually unstoppable: Ecuador’s talent Gonzalo Plata (l.)
The special
Did Ecuador cheat into the finals with an ineligible player? Was defender Byron Castillo, who played in eight qualifiers, born in Colombia in 1995 and not in Ecuador, as stated, in 1998?
Castillo was banned from the Ecuador U20 national team back in 2017 after he was accused of being born in Tumaco, a Colombian town near the border with Ecuador. Then, in January 2019, he was accused of falsifying his birth certificate, which led to him not being featured in any Ecuador national team. That only changed in 2021, when an official Ecuadorian birth certificate was issued for him.
With an Ecuadorian passport and a date of birth that is irrelevant for World Cup participation, the world governing body FIFA released Castillo in mid-September, to the displeasure of the Chileans and Peruvians who failed to qualify.
World Cup Chances
“We want to play our best World Cup in history,” demanded head coach Gustavo Alfaro. Reaching the round of 16 like in 2006 is the minimum goal. The number four in South America had the second best attack and the third best defense of the “Eliminatorias” in terms of goals. As usual, the “hunters of impossible utopias” fought point by point at home in the Andes (over 2,800 meters). The Ecuadorians got 18 of their 26 points in home games and also scored points at home against Brazil and Argentina (each 1-1).
In the preliminary round group A, the South Americans meet the Netherlands, Qatar and Senegal. Ecuador can always be expected to reach the round of 16. To do this, the team has to play more efficiently than in previous World Cup tournaments. If head coach Alfaro also manages to find a good mix of young, hopeful talents and veterans such as goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez, 35, captain Valencia or even Augsburg’s midfielder Carlos Gruezo, 27, it could also be the fourth World Cup participation go one round.