- wording
- BBC News World
What Ecuador did, led by its Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro, and its top scorer, Ener Valencia, in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, was remarkable.
Not only did they score an outright victory over hosts Qatar in the opening match of the World Cup, but they also earned a draw against the Netherlands.
This result, achieved thanks to the team’s outstanding efforts and an outstanding performance by Enner Valencia, puts them in a position to reach the second round.
In Group A, Ecuador and the Netherlands are tied on points (4), goal difference (+2), and match wins (1). La Tri will determine its future in the match against Senegal This Tuesday at Khalifa Stadium.
a Necktie The rating assures them of second place in the bunch, but, and here comes the interesting part, they do have potential be first If they win and they have a better goal difference than the Netherlands.
This way he will face the second in group B, where they are England, USA, Wales and Iran.
Now, it would be interesting not to neglect, Ecuador also You can be eliminated if you lose The Dutch beat Qatar, which is a very likely result for the Europeans given the low level of the hosts, who have already been eliminated.
The best of Ecuador
Despite the fact that Germany’s 2006 campaign was the best in Ecuador’s history when they qualified for the last 16 (they reached their World Cup debuts in Korea and Japan in 2002), this year’s showing in Qatar was welcome.
Firstly, there was the emphatic victory over the locals in the opening game, thanks to two goals from Enner Valencia, they lost the picturesque setting and laid the first building block for what could be another memorable performance for ‘La Tri’ in the World Cup.
Then came the match with the Netherlands, which started hard for Ecuador from the start. at minute 5, Cody Jackbo He took the ball and from outside the area fired with his left foot which ended up in the back of the net.
But despite the loss, Ecuador showed what it was made of: persistence with pressure and the intent to attack its opponent.
Until the 49th minute, in a bad start for the Netherlands, Estupinan hit a shot from the left that Andres Nobert tried to cover and on the rebound Inner Valencia had to pay it.
This was the third goal of the Ecuadorian 13 so far in Qatar 2022.
The game was still in Ecuador’s hands, against the Netherlands who were looking to recover and return to the attacking football they had played at the start of the game.
The trio’s speed and chances were diminishing towards the end of the game. Both teams drew lots for the match South Americans did better.
So much so that at the end of the match, Ecuador coach Louis van Gaal told Alfaro, “I congratulate you, they beat us.”
Remember that You can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download and activate the new version of our application in order not to miss our best content.
“Analyst. Web buff. Wannabe beer trailblazer. Certified music expert. Zombie lover. Explorer. Pop culture fanatic.”