I’m willing to bet the serie A from ecuador has been the most competitive in libertadores and sudamericana in the past decade (barring the obvious argies and bra) big day today, it’s time to find out the last 3 opponents of the becca cycle (I kid I kid LOL)
How do you guys see Group E ?I think we can go through to next phase.Germany is not the same as other WC,Ivory Coast is not Senegal,Curazao’s first time ,there’s no excuse .
The group is accessible. We need Moises for the first game against Senegal. African teams can be physical.
Its a solid group, its Ecuadors group to lose really. Solid Euro team, tough direct rival and 3pts. We've seen i before and hopefully we've learned from past experiences and get it done. We play Ivory Coast first and although they are no Senegal, we also have no Moises Caicedo. This game will be very physical, without Caicedo this game might prove to be a bit harder. I think we have enough to pull it through by a goal. Onto Curacao for game 2, this "should" be an easy 3pts + goals no excuses. Germany are far from the juggernaut they used to be, but you should never count them out. This game can go either way, especially if the Germans are in need of points. If Ecuador want to be taken seriously and make that jump this is that statement game to win. Defensively i think it will be hard for any team in this group to score a goal on us, and extremely difficult to score multiple. But all it takes is one defensive lapse and points are out the window. If we can't score it is over. Ecuador can easily top the group and easily be sent home with 3 scoreless draws.
Our mid field with out moi is going to be an issue. Vs Senegal both up front and mid field we couldn't compete physically. Who are we going to line up in midfield and up front to tackle head on an African defense? Campana ain't it. Enner and Rodriguez are going to struggle. I wish Jordy Caicedo would of been in form by now he could of been that physical presence up front. Franco and Denil are going to struggle. Denil needs to muscle up asap.
We'll have to beat them from a distance because trying to body their defense is not going to be an easy task. Long distance shooting, we need Pervis, Caicedo, Hincapie, Franco, Plata, Angulo, and Minda ready to shoot early and often. Skillwise, it's somewhat even across both squads, but I'd give an African team the edge on speed and physicality. We can tactically outplay them if we can control the midfield and pass the ball around, but we need to shoot.
Vite, Castillo, and Patrik Mercado aren’t known for their physicality. Same with Franco and Alcivar. I remember Franco struggling against Senegal. The coaching staff will have to devise a game plan to attack Ivory Coast’s weaknesses.
Elias Legendre Quiñonez made his debut today. Against PSG no less. That U17 squad was loaded with talent. It’s unfortunate they didn’t qualify for the World Cup.
We have Morocco and the Netherlands up next for friendlies. Those will be VERY nice tests for the squad. Hopefully we can: 1) stay healthy, 2) avoid reckless fouling, and 3) control the tempo of the matches and score with someone other than Enner.
I disagree and agree with several points from ya'll. Ivory Coast is closer to Senegal from 4 years ago than you think, they are current reigning Africa Cup champs. Theyre a team that has held many close games and havent given up many goals. Like usual their players are scattered amongst the top leagues in Europe. I wouldn't say they're a goal scoring machine but they dont seem dependant on just one player like Ecuador is. More importantly, they are physical and fast ==> Ecuador ALWAYS struggle when they can't exploit this aspect of their game. The team will need to keep the ball on the ground and be patient. There are 0 excuses to make the same errors that were made in 2022, we have top tier defenders who play important games week in and week out. Hincapie cant shove a man to the ground and cause a penalty, Pacho can't lose his man on a corner and conceded immediately after tying. Agreed Germany isnt the Germany from years past - but if Wirtz turns up they can be a tough team this summer. Curacao is Qatar, and Honduras all over again. They're going to go give up 9 points and plenty of goals. Which means a tie and win is an absolute vs Germany and Ivory Coast if we want to be top 2. The core of this squad would still only be 24/25 for this summer's showing. By contrast the stars from other teams are all 27+... it is imperative that this team can convince the world of its potential for a solid showing and contention in 2028 Copa America.
Ederson Castillo from Liga being linked to Anderlecht, Bayern, Atlético de Madrid, and Manchester United.
I'm anxious about the Ivorians because their strengths are essentially ours. We basically cancel each other out on speed and they'll definitely be MORE physical- agreed. But they ARE a goalscoring powerhouse in Africa despite the quality of their opponents being suspect. Their record speaks for itself: 10 games played, 8 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses. 25 goals scored, 0 goals conceded. That's crazy. Even if they played Seychelles and dumped 16 goals on them- that's some crazy consistency to focus on scoring. If we played a lower ranked squad, knowing what we know about our team, can we replicate such a feat? I doubt it. A total of 15 players have scored on their squad.
It's awesome, the youth players have really benefited from the buzz around the current guys. If we were ever able to secure a copa america we can probably establish a long term pipeline directly to the top 6 leagues in europe similar to Uruguay and colombia have been managing for decades.
This x2. I am also remembering that even Jamaica gave us a hard game in the Copa America last summer, a lucky Hincapie center and very late 3rd goal had it looking more one sided than it actually was.
IDV is establishing a strong track record selling players to European teams. Moises, Hincapie, Pacho, and Ordońez have performed at a high level. Other players have been average to above average - Minda, Rodriguez, Medina, Paez. This has opened up opportunities to not just more IDV players but perhaps players from other teams. Liga, Aucas, and Orense have interesting young players. If given the opportunity I’m sure they could perform at high levels for European teams.
🤩 Le damos la bienvenida a Gonzalo Ferrea, nuevo DT de nuestra Selección Sub17 Masculina.El profe Gonzalo cuenta con una larga trayectoria en las categorías juveniles de clubes de Argentina y del país.👏 ¡Éxitos en esta etapa, profe! pic.twitter.com/w6KpK50Q3a— La Tri 🇪🇨 (@LaTri) December 12, 2025
Isn't Preciado also an IDV product? I believe a kid from Aucas is set to sign and then get loaned by Bayern. Liga apparently had 1-2 kids they were about to ship off to Europe, too. As for Orense, I don't know about the quality of their "exports", but their academy has been praised for having nice and modern facilities.
Preciado also came from their youth setup. Before joining IDV he was with America de Quito. He made his professional debut with IDV. Liga has three interesting players - Castillo, Fricio Caicedo, and Kevin Pineda. They’ve actually done well selling players to Europe in recent years - Nilson Angulo, Denil Castillo, Oscar Zambrano, and Juanse Rodriguez. Orense has an interesting project and they do have some interesting players - Zambrano, Ortiz.
Orense is still in their early stages similar to Aucas or IDV years ago. Ariel Suarez, Eric Pluas and Oscar Quinonez have been the players they have sent aboard. They havent gotten much success yet but they can get there. They have a good amount of youth players called up to the youth national team recently so the talent pool is interesting.
Pluas was playing at a high level last season. I think he had a chance of being called up to the national team. He injured his knee and last I checked he hasn’t played in a competitive game since then. Another interesting player they have is Sergio Vasquez.