LAFC currently beating Red Bulls 2-0. Diego Palacios and Cifuentes seem to start together on the left side often. Palacios just scored but does anyone here watch these games frequently? Palacios is 22 - he the natural sub for Pervis?
I don’t. I might follow an established Ecua here and there most of the time I don’t even know when they’re playing. I don’t think they have strong social media for me to notice anything whatsoever.
None of our guys, even the best of them, don't have very good social media presence. I think it's a bigger testament to how inconsequential the MLS is relative to the general fan/customer base. The problem is that if you don't live in a major MLS market and aren't an avid fan, much of this info goes unseen. I notice, for example, that Kansas City is apparently a massive soccer market, but it's a small TV market. Same with Austin. If you're in LA and it's the summer, the market is bizarre - 2 MLS teams, but they will likely be overshadowed by the Angels and Dodgers. During the fall/winter, the Rams/Chargers and UCLA/USC will overshadow - fall/winter/spring = NBA and NHL. It's tough for the MLS.
Yeah, competing against the top leagues is definitely difficult, albeit IMO the stadiums look a lot more packed than I would expect. NYC FC actually won the cup last year, not going to lie I was pretty hyped about NY getting a chip. But will also admit I have not made an effort to go to the games this season. Not to stray completely off topic here, but I think the MLS will 100% grow in strength and popularity once the best athletes start funneling out of football into other sports. There's been a big shift in peewee football and even high school athletes turning to secondary sports to avoid the long term trauma that happens after so many years of taking those hits. This will all be to the benefit of NBA, MLB, and MLS, and lastly NHL IMO.
There's not that much depth at LB. Pervis is the starter and Palacios is the backup. Pineida doesn't play much with Fluminense. Anibal Chala was a player I think could have been part of this process. When Alfaro took over the NT he was playing well with Toluca. Then he went to France and his form dropped. He finished strong with Atlas this past season tho. Jhoanner Chavez is an interesting name to keep an eye for the future. I think Alfaro is going to stick with the guys that have been called up to the NT during his tenure.
Seems to be a lot of rumors and movement on our European based guys - I dont know if I am a big fan of these kids switching teams when we're months away from a WC. Seems like they'll need to earn starting spots again. Especially in Hincapie's case where his move really seems more lateral than anything. Tottenham and Milan are only slightly ahead of Leverkusen in my opinion. Althought the possibility of Pervis + Hincapie, or Hincapie + Plata on the same team does sounds alluring and fun to watch. Would absolutely be catching those games along with Leon. As a side note, I re-watched the 2002 Ecuador vs Italy game last night, I was like 10 years old when this game was played and I had to go to school. So I never reallyyyy watched it haha The nerves on those players was crazyyyyy. Pretty pumped that this growth in hierarchy has happened during the years I've started watching soccer. 20 out of the 23 players called up to that world cup, played their club ball in Ecuador! Anyway if anyone know a good site to watch full games against Mexico and Croatia from that same world cup please let me know.
My mom let me stay home to watch the Italy and Croatia games lol The vast majority of NT players play abroad now. It used to be the other way around but things have changed. Out of the 28 players that were called up to the NT for the recent friendlies only 3 players play in Ecuador.
That is a massive turnaround. It took about 20 years to see this process bear fruit. None of this would have been possible without a visionary coach who fundamentally changed the mindset of what was possible (Draskovic). None of this would have been possible without a coach to steer us to a world cup (Bolillio). None of this would have been possible without a few pioneer players who legitimized our "brand" abroad (Hurtado, Tin, UDLC, Tenorio, Kaviedes, Aguinaga, etc.) None of this would have been possible without Antonio Valencia being the first Ecuadorian to win PL titles and captain a major European team to an international title. None of this would have been possible without Liga winning Ecuador's first CL, Sudamericana, and Recopa titles. None of this would have been possible without IDV creating Ecuador's first international-standard training facilities and investing in that project for over 11 years before ever bearing fruits of success with a Sudamericana title and various U19 CL titles/runner up berths. None of this would have been possible without BSC being a LATAM power for a decade and nearly winning 2 CL titles (controversial losses). Lastly, none of this would have been possible without Sixto's panamerican games trophy, U20 2011 WC berth, and Celico's U20 WC bronze medal. We have lots of small successes that have progressively built up/snowballed into major strides for our national team. It's worth noting how good Ecuador's local league has become, too. This does come with a bit of reserved judgement as we know how many issues our local league suffers from, but overall, the product is better than Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, and arguably better than Uruguay and Colombia when it comes to team performance in intl league play (in recent years). What we need now is guys to assume the pressure to make the leap into bigger squads and produce the same quality output on a daily basis. That's how an Hincapie turns into a Sergio Ramos-esque player, or a Moises becoming the next Kante....they rise to the occasion and prove their class on the world stage. This World Cup might be a determining tournament to see if our guys finally get the looks that we think they deserve and rightly place our country among the world's best squads and feeder systems. Chile and Colombia enjoyed relative success from 2014-2019 and how they had guys slotted in elite clubs, but they never really invested in the next generation. We have to be proactive to MAINTAIN.
I think Sixto Vizuete gets overlooked. His U20 side was fun to watch. They played well against the traditional South American powerhouses. I remember being somewhat surprised at the time. There will be continued growth in the coming years. IDV and Liga have the best youth development programs in the country. They'll continue to produce interesting players. Aucas, Universidad Catolica, and Orense have interesting projects as well. Celico joining BSC could prove to have a massive impact. IDV is going to cash in big time with Hincapie, Plata, and Moises. The millions of dollars they get from those future transfers will allow them to reinvest the money into their youth development program as well as their project in Spain.
As sad as that game was. It's one of my core childhood memories. We were at my aunts house, and I remember I was sent to bed, and woken up at what I imagine was like 2 or 3am to watch this Ecuador v Mexico game. Per usual, Tin put in a header and I remember thinking we'd win. Then Mexico did the Mexico things and turned it all up on us. I remember the painful faces on everyones faces when Mexico netted the second goal. That mexico team was beast ! they gave that beast italian squad a run for their money and tied them.
You guys had skool? I remember mine canceled class for every game. Btw, you guys just see how they almost robbed emelec?
If Hincapie moved to Milan, it would be a big move. He's coming to a team that just won the league, has a core that is his age, and is reinforcing to go for the UCL title next year. Milan fans are hyped to see ourselves linked with him but the issue is the price. He's pretty expensive now and it seems only the English teams have the money to buy him. But if he went to Milan the kid would fit into the team like a glove.
But come on,the first game in a World Cup and we get a powerhouse like ItalyIts a miracle they only scored 2,but winning a first game in our first cup against a contender like Croatia wasn’t that bad!
Yeah, oddly enough that Italian team was only stopped by an Ecuadorian Ref. ha! A very similar core of those Italians went on to win 2006. I think people often forget Ecuador've taken down Croatia, Poland, and even drew with France (who won the next world cup) in 3 appearances. Ecuador isn't the pushover team that you would imagine from some of the comments made about them. Incredible, I obviously didnt look hard enough. Thanks so much!
Bolillo did great to get our guys focused on getting to the WC, but the mentality of "vamos para aprender" is an ongoing joke with my friends. It basically reinforced inferiority. That being said, beating Croatia was a big boost- especially for Edison Mendez, but we really s**t the bed against MX.
Vizuete was very under rated and always over looked. He invited the joke "Jugando como nunca, prediendo como siempre". He really did have us jugando como bala tho. If he had just a little more luck he would of had us in the WC. Sadly man let Chiri ruin his career he needed to learn to be firm in a personal and professional aspect had he done that he probably would of had a better career. I want him to make a come back so bad. Bolivia could of been amazing for his career. If countries like El Salvador, Peru, Bolivia open the door for him he could make a great come back. Octavio Zambrano is in El Salvador would be nice if he reaches their NT.
Ese equipo era arrollador, I dont think we have ever played a better game against Brazil. IMO 1 game kept that squad out of the South Africa aside from the Luis Fernando Suarez blunder of losing to Venezuela in Quito: That Uruguay game (another core memory - this time in HS) where we were robbed at home. I've always had hope that Vizuete gets the NT again in the future. I still don't understand what the Mendez beef was about at the time. In-form Chucho, In-form Valencia, 20 yr Old Felipao, resurrected Cevallos, Copa libertadores Guerron, I really can't believe we didn't see that in 2010 WC. EDIT: Now that I think about it, that penalty that Uruguay won at the end of that game came from a similar play as the Swiss goal in 2014 WC. El equipo se queda parado anticipating something that hasn't happened or been called by the ref. SMH
I know a lot of the details about the Sixto Vizuete days and some of the locker room issues b/c I was tight with him and his entire coaching and medical staff....and sadly also with Chiriboga. That being said, Sixto always got called up as a fixer and never got the nod with the NT for a full cycle, which was always a critique from him and his coaches - it felt like he was never fully respected. He did inherit a deep squad that was in their prime, but also promoted talent from the younger squads during his second stint. He had vision and his preparador fisico was a terrifying man, so there was solid physical discipline in the locker room.
It was very common for Ecuadorian coaches to be called up only as fixers. Remember Carlos Sevilla man always got called after a coach was sacked in a team that in danger of relegation. It true Vizuete was never truly respected but I felt like he could have done more from his part to earn respect he should have put his foot down in his last NT cycle and only coached one or the other and not booth. He just gave Chiri all the more reason to use him as a scapegoat. I still dont understand it either. Mendez really said he didnt want an Ecuadorian coach in the team. karma gonna hit him when it takes him forever to get a chance as a coach in a first division team.
We need to have a beer one day haha I understand you wouldnt just post some of the juicy details on a forum. I enjoyed watching that Ecuavisa telenovela "Si se puede", mostly because I watched it with my father. But was very interested in the wheelings and dealings they depicted for Chirigboga. Some of it went all the way up to the highest ranks in Fifa. I definitely feel like we also have a serious mafia within the player representatives camps as well. I'd like to think the Novela was super dramatized and things aren't as bad as what I saw, but the Moises Caicedo sale saga, and the Byron Castillo hiccups tell me something isn't 100% over there. Yea, he was definitely fixer for Liga, honestly put us back on track and then they began slacking again when Zubeldia came back.
Mendez retiring after Vizuete was hired was a big blow to his credibility. In retrospect Vizuete should have let him retire and not allowed him to return to the NT during his tenure. I don't think Ecuador would have come as close to qualifying as they did though. Some of the leaders of that squad definitely didn't respect him. I forget which game it was but I remember an instance where Vizuete wanted to make a substitution but Hurtado yelled at him and told him to not make it. Vizuete listened. My uncle was close with Espinoza because they knew each other from their Aucas days and so my uncle would meet him when they came to play friendlies in the US. Things were rotten from the top down.
ULTIMA HORA.Hoy la prensa portuguesa informa del interés del @FCPorto por el zaguero #FelixTorres.El zaguero de @LaTri, que milita en el @ClubSantos,está bien posicionado en una terna para ser contratado.El club luso,es uno de los grandes de ese país.⚽️🇪🇨🇲🇽⚽️ pic.twitter.com/F1zRD4pHiD— Fabian Gallardo M. (@FABIANGALLARDOM) July 4, 2022 That'd be a good move for Torres.