Sarmiento, IMO, is a good cap because he is young and once capped at the senior level can only play for Ecuador. I do agree that Alcivar should have gotten a nod though.
I really hope for the good of the NT that this pay off in the long run. Many of our players have had injuries and have been inconsistent at club level which has been one of the main reason why we havent found players who deserve the starting position in the team where we needed it the most. We kinda do need options because we always end up in the scenario where we loose players then have no one to call. Alfaro is playing the favoritism card and is getting some calls wrong tho. Why hasnt Jose Cifuentes been called up. Alcivar and Jackson Porozo are also players who deserved the call. I would have also liked to see Alfaro made the effort to call Cristian Ramirez and see if there was a chance that he might want to play for the NT again.
Honestly if we drop points to Bolivia, we're in really hot water. 6/9 points needs to be the target, but ideally we get 7/9. Anything less than that is a recipe for panic and disaster.
26 points will 100% be enough to take at least 5th place at the end. You need the 4 home wins and a single away point IMO. That being said, this weakened Venezuela side (with too many absentees and interim coach) is clearly the biggest chance Ecuador will have for an away win.
Gentlemen, long time no see, I missed this forum but life got busy, either way, for some reason Im really nervous about Tonights game, the game in Guayaquil, the over confidence Im sensing in our press, Lampe's shining against us, Martin has always scored on us, tbh Im expecting a really hard fought game
Agreed 100%. I just don't trust Ecuador in a 5th slot b/c any fixture against an international squad means additional games, and the team's form/consistency worries me. We make mistakes that are costing us points...especially in the last 30 mins of most games.
Again with Gruezo in midfield? Hopefully Enner finally gets his goal. His dry spell is effecting him and the team. I'm glad Plata is starting.
Well it’s about time Enner scored,if he didn’t score things we’re looking grim for him.we’re back in third place.
So finally Enner scores, of course, it would be against Bolivia hehe. Let's see if he can score against better teams. Overall, the team is playing pretty well and much better than Quito where they struggle like everyone else.
This game, tbh, was a cupcake match for Ecuador- and no disrespect to our Bolivian brothers and sisters, but beating Bolivia, as they currently stand in the tournament, was expected. And our most sensible loss is B. Castillo. That really hurt us. Preciado never got into the game. A huge worry moving ahead. Venezuela has been tricky...despite their very problematic run of results. Colombia is going to come out to kill. Is this team ready for that smoke? Seeing the game vs. VZ is going to tell us a lot about how this team is really performing. We need 3 points.
3 points against Venezuela will go a long way. We have to make you ground for the points lost against Chile and Peru.
I've been in and out since 2007 as well, so good to see you back! Hoping to see "thatDamnecuadorian" (or something like that) back here some day. I think calling it a "cupcake match" is a bit of an overstatement. This team has been tough to watch since that loss in Brazil earlier in the year. Without getting granular, this team wasn't really convincing anyone that they were back to the form they were (End of 2020). The lack of confidence oozed during every pass and play for much of this year, including the CA. If it wasn't the forwards missing goals, it was the defense having a melt down. That W against Paraguay felt flukey after the results against Chile and Uruguay. This could have easily been a nightmare game if Bolivia defended a little better, or the bounces didn't go our way. My POV: - Defense earned a clean sheet. Hincapie is developing a sense of security for the rest of the team, even though they looked suspect on some plays. This continues to highlight the need for more concentration late in games regardless of the score. - The midfield looked sharper, faster, and willing to attack on a dime. - Estrada scores another big goal for us. He's becoming clutch (Bolivia away winner, Late Paraguay security goal, and Bolivia at home opener) - ENNER finally gets the monkey off his back, hoping this will open him up and stop making hasty decisions - Agreed that Castillo is a HUGE loss - We have managed to take 6 points from Bolivia for the first time in a while, we have to do the same against the last place team Venezuela - This win definitely gives me a sense of awakening from the team, I hope I'm right
You're right, but I will make a clarifying point. We scored 3 and basically took our foot off the gas pedal. The rest of the game didn't look like a team trying to keep running up the score with any real sense of urgency. Sure, there were some injuries and a few mistakes...to me, I liken the rest of the performance to an exhibition game that no longer demonstrated any grit. The mistakes were probably due to a lack of focus because we conformed to the scoreline. In essence, this still becomes the biggest obstacle to Ecuadorian football showing that we've taken that great leap forward. I listened to 2 hours of post-match commentary on Ecuadorian AM radio (Caravana) online and honestly, their comments echo similar sentiments - Ecuador's opponent was not the strongest, has lots of weaknesses and their results demonstrate that. Ultimately, this was a game we were expected to win...and we did that, but HOW we won still elicits lots of questions for those of us who are really analyzing the game. Many doubters will be calmed by the win but might not look further. You rightly point out miscues on the defense...minor against Bolivia but deadly against the teams competing directly near our 3rd place slot. Estrada and Enner finding scoring form. Especially from Enner, this is massive. He is our captain and the most capped player behind Dominguez. The young guys need to see him scoring...or at least assisting....in order to get that morale boost. It's still too early to say if this is a fluke. If precedent can be an indicator of what is to come, Enner might go on a 2-3 game scoring tear. That is historically how it has happened. Regarding Estrada, finding form is crucial...he's the biggest bodied target man we have that isn't Jordy Caicedo (not called up), and he also went on a dry streak after having a great few matchdays early on. Ironically, Enner netting 2 is coming off a dry streak w/ Fenerbahce now. Venezuela is a tricky team. Look at what they did against us in the CA this summer. I saw that game from the airport in Chicago and I was so upset with how gritty they were and how uninspired/messy we were. Venezuela might lose a lot of games, but it's unlikely that they will come out and play flat footed like Bolivia did. Recent VZ WCQ games: Oct 9, 2020 v. COL - 0-3 LOSS (all 3 goals scored in the first half) Oct 13, 2020 v. PAR - 0-1 LOSS (conceded in the 85th minute) Nov 13, 2020 v. BRA - 01- LOSS (conceded in the 67th minute) Nov 17, 2020 v. CHI - 2-1 WIN (game winner in the 81st minute) Jun 3, 2021 v. BOL - 1-3 LOSS (conceded in the 60th + 83rd w/ 2nd and 3rd goal) June 8, 2021 v. URU - 0-0 TIE (14 shots v. Uru 7 shots) Sep 2, 2021 v. ARG - 1-3 LOSS (red card in 32nd min, conceded in the 45+2 minute, and then 2 more at 71 and 74 minutes) Sep 5, 2021 v. PER - 0-1 LOSS (Concedes in the 35th minute + red card in 38th minute) Sep 9, 2021 v. PAR - 2-1 LOSS (Concedes in 7th and 46th minute, scores in 90th. VZ dominates shots and possession) This form is tough to read...lots of narrow losses except for Colombia and Argentina (likely due to a red card). It does show us they can keep narrow scorelines even if they are goal line defending...they usually lose, BUT they play hard. This is a game where we should be on upset alert. We are favorites to win, but Ecuador needs to go out with a killers mentality to outrun, outpass, and outthink the opponent...and ideally run up the score. We should not sit on the laurels with a 1 goal lead and assume we can keep defensive and possession focus to win a game b/c we're simply not that kind of team. Venezuela might be on the verge of outright elimination with this game's result, so looking at the prospects of seeing a team fight to survive might inspire them. Alfaro needs to keep this team highly motivated for 90 mins of Bayern Munich-type pressing/attacking and scoring as much as possible.
@directfutbolec is saying Castillo's injury is minor and he'll be out a few weeks at most. That's a massive WIN. I hope the source is reliable - the earlier articles today had a way worse outlook. Fair enough, I get you point, but I still think the team deserves the praise for understanding they needed to win and then showing up with urgency and precision. The complacency is annoying and then brain farts on defense is a huge no no, it is 100% what lost us that game in Uruguay. This team is weird, but we have a lot of fire power, I cannot recall a qualifier where we've had so many goleadas. The team has shown they can torture someone if they really want too. But the mental toughness isn't there, and it could be age, but you can see that if something throws them off their game - there's no savior. All this to say - I also fear going up by a goal early in Caracas and then watching them fall flat and being tied at the 90th + min.
Glad to see Moises Caicedo doing well. When he's in form, this team is on another level. My only complaint for the Bolivia game is that our subs shouldn't be selfish. Sarmiento did a couple good plays and the other players didn't pass it back to him or preferred to shoot instead.
Castillo’s injury is not as bad as first thought. I hope our guys don’t get way too overconfident this was just Bolivia and we needed to win this game no matter what.
We need Argentina, Brazil and hopefully Bolivia to win their respective games with a Chile and Paraguay tie.