Ecuador v. Paraguay - WCQ - 26 March 2013 - Quito

I see the Peru game as more important! And what the hell the Guerrero say?

I am not being over confident here, but honestly see this Ecuador team as one of the best in a long long time. May not have the names, but somehow, they are a great squad, good attitude, discipline, mentality. How much credit does Rueda deserve, cuz I know he is part of the reason. He is also unlocking Caicedo's potential and that guy is now a goal machine. Hope he does the same for Montero!

 

Excellent game by Ecuador!! We started off pretty nervous and Noboa and Pedro Quinonez seem a bit confused on what their roles had to be and how to adjust on the field in the first 20 minutes of the game. But the first goal was in no way either one of their faults if you guys saw the replay. It was Montero and Achiliers mess ups that caused the goal. Quinonez was no where near when that happened and it was in no way his fault as some people here claim it to be. I actually think P. Quinonez linked up really well with Noboa. I was quite surprised b/c I didn't expect Quinonez to play a good game. I think there was a bit of confusion between both of them as to who was going to move up the field because Quinonez isn't used to playing the role that Saritama does (moving up and down the field with and without the ball). I saw Noboa pulled him to the side once or twice in the first half and told him what he had to do. This is one of the few times I've seen Pedro Quinonez pressure really well without committing fouls like I'm used to seeing him do. His good sesason with Emelec reflected what he did on the field today. I give him a 7/10. That goal that Valencia got called off sides started with a steal from P. Quinonez when he was pressuring, and because of P. Quinonez's recovering and pressuring throughout the game, Montero was able to do what he did today- TERRORIZE the living hell out of Paraguay.

TODAY was finally the day where Montero stepped up to the plate and claimed his spot for good in that starting 11. FINALLY!! I've been waiting YEARS for him to finally show his true potential at this level. I think this game vs. Paraguay possibly marked that next step. He finally finished 90% or more of his plays with a good cross and/or a good shot. Valencia had really great moments in this game and could have easily been MVP of the match if Montero wasn't on the field, but Montero completely outshined Antonio today. Montero was on another level of crack! all I can say is FINALLY!!

The defense was good besides the screw up Achilier had which could've happened to anybody. Achilier is still one of the best defenders in the country in my book along with campos, erazo, and morante. The screw up he had today means nothing to me.

On the other hand JC Paredes was the weakest link of the team today. His performances in Barcelona haven't been more than average and I think it's affecting him. He didn't move up the right wing as much today and link up with Antonio effectively as we are used to seeing. He lost a few balls here and there and didn't seem to as precise and focused today. Hopefully his performances in BSC improve so that he can get back in shape for the NT. Good thing Erazo didn't seem as affected.


And a big hand to Felipao- that's our goleador! No questions asked. Freakin MONSTER! When I see him play I always remember of the plays Hernan Barcos would do in Liga. Big guys with great ball control and dribbling. I really would like to see him in a top 5 team in England, Spain, or Italy. Preferably the EPL, I'd love to see him get his second chance there now that he's more mature.

 

I knew Montero wouldn't miss this time as soon as I saw him running with the ball.

 

Ok, so if we get 5 more points, are we Guaranteed a 4th or 5th spot? I expect us to exceed that amount but I'm just curious ....

 

I hear that supposedly 25 points is the desired number. it seems to make sense.

 

I am very nervous about our game in Peru. If we can get 3 points there I feel like we will have a great chance. If we can't, then it becomes very important to get all 3 vs. Argentina.

I'd really like to NOT be sweating our games IN Colombia / Chile and vs. Uruguay with all that pressure.

 

He needs more confidence to take the outside shots, like Benitez, Edison Mendez. He faked two defenders out today and should have popped a shot off, but instead he tried to walk it into the goal.

 

Yikes. He has his fair share of good days but that was one inspiring performance. Let's just hope photos of him hobnobbing around the Quito nightlife with Rick James and and Rene Higuita or we might have to assume it's something a little stronger than Wheaties he had for breakfast.

Like Luigi408 said, i think that left side is his, so long as he stays out of card trouble.

 

I watched highlights of him again today and it's just insane how he
repeatedly took on 3-4 players like it's nothing. Left foot and right foot included in almost all his plays. Montero was just devastating yesterday. I've never even seen Antonio rape his opponents like Montero did yesterday. Poor Ivan Piris lol

 

Agreed. I wouldn't be surprised if Piris gives birth nine months from now and the kid looks like Montero. He should name the baby Jeff if it's a boy.

One thing, and I think you or Manolo mentioned this in an earlier thread -- but Benitez and Caicedo just weren't on the same wavelength yesterday. I think mac-0n3 put it best: he was shaky and besides the finish he didn't do much. Near the end of the game, he was so desperate for another goal, he was shooting every time he touched the ball. Only Kobe Bryant doesn't think Chucho is selfish. There's no question he and Caicedo are our best forwards but I don't think that means they make a good pair up front. Benitez is playing like he has something to prove, when his first priority should be guaranteeing our success.

 

Great point and I feel the same way. This is no time to take our foot off the pedal and start believing our own hype. Last time we played in Lima, I believe Peru was at the bottom of the table and hanging their heads even as they walked on to the pitch. They're in high spirits at the moment and always bring it against Ecuador. Plus the way some clowns carried on following the win in Quito has their fans and players all fired up, pitchforks and torches and all like a Frankenstein movie. And if that isn't bad enough, we have Argentina the following match. The last thing we want is to play the Argentines with our backs to the walls. They smell blood in the water and things will get ugly.

Not to rain on the parade, but I think there's still a lot of work to do. We're playing like one of the best teams in the world at the moment, but that also comes with points to defend and a target on our backs. Here's hoping we keep on keeping on.

 

I was praying for us to win in La Paz but Messi jacked it up. Depending if we win against Colombia, we might sit out our best players or not even call them up for the game in Quito. That game in Peru is going to be a classic Cenepa battle all over again. Peru has two games in hand and with those 6 points, It will shoot them right to the top. Can't wait.

 

I would throw Valencia at right back and have Ibarra and Montero switching sides all game. That would cause havoc and IMO Ibarra is more versatile than Valencia and can play both sides. Valencia is so predictable and was controlled for most of the game

 

What's up fellas? I was actually at this match in Quito, I happened to be in Ecuador at this time so took advantage of this chance to see the NT play. It was a pretty exciting match after the first 15 minutes or so. The first 15 minutes were pretty bad and the crowd was really getting impaient but then we started the "Si Se Puede" chants and the players started to play some great futbol. Some negatives about this match IMO is the over-dependancy on wing play. It worked against Paraguay because Montero had A BEAST performance but we didn't seem to want to shoot from anywhere other then inside the box. In the end though what matter is Ecuador got the 3 points so the strategy worked, with Valencia and Montero on the wings it would be hard not to go that route but it seems repetetive at times. I think we need to have more outside shots not just crosses and have some better defending early in games because they just seemed lazy in the beginning. All in all it was a great game to watch, I was right behind the goal in the 2nd half I think yelled out hijueputa like 100 times this match I was yelling at Montero "Dale ijueputa" and when it came to the ref's bad calls it was "hijo de puta... hijo de puta" lol....

 

Hotdamn, Montero should be playing in Real Madrid Your prospects are looking good, Sabella will probably send a B-side, like against Bolivia but without Messi, Mascherano and DiMaria, since Argentina will be likely in the WC by then. A win against either Peru or Bolivia should set Ecuador on its way to Brazil, assuming three points against an experimental Argentina.

 

I do believe Argentina will clinch against Colombia at home, I do not if they starting line up will go to Quito but I do think that they will not have the hunger/necessity of adding points, I like our odds against them, my only concern is how many players will be suspended after what I think will be a a freaking battle in Lima, I think Noboa is out right? Castillo will be back. 4-6 points, we can do it guys!

 

Hi Emelectric15, sweet that you got to attend the game. I made it out to Quito for several games ahead of the 2010 World Cup but with work picking up and the weird direct flight schedule out of my local airport (plus insanely inflated hotel prices), I've only been to one this time around. I'd like to get to the Argentina game -- I was there the last time we played them and the atmosphere was electric.

In re: to wingplay, that's definitely a concern a few people mentioned in previous posts. Unless we're on the counter-attack, nearly all offense is generated off of the wings and even that only kicked into high gear when the effects of the altitude started to slow the Paraguayans down. Here's hoping Rueda can work a more offensive presence into our midfield before the boys head to Lima.

 

Hey there Techno_toro that's awesome that you got to go to the Argentina game. I know this time around it would be really difficult to get tickets. For this match almost all tickets were sold as abonos - I was pretty lucky to get tickets since mi gf's cousin works there at the stadium. Actually he had messaged my gf at the game to get us on the field and possibly meet the players, I was angry at my gf for not seeing the message until after we left I must admit this is my only real experience at a futbol match, I've never seen a professional futbol match other then Emelec a couple times when I was a kid which I hardly remember.

The first 15-20 minutes or so like I mentioned earlier seemed like Ecuador lacked focus, someone tell the players they are not on "Ecuador Time" and need to show up to play from the start lol... The crowd was getting really impatient, some Quitenas behind us were hurling all types of profain insults at Paredes but I thought it was hilarious. Once the crowd really got behind the team though you could see them pick up their play especially after the Paraguay goal and the atmosphere was really enthralling albeit tense. Nerves really kicked in after that Valencia disallowed goal - Would this be "One of those games"? Well I think everyone felt a deep sense of confidence that things would turn around eventually... Then came Caicedo's goal after that it was pure electricity in the stadium. Then Montero's GOLAZO came quickly like a lightning bolt, I've never seen anything like that. I had lot's of fun hopefully one day I will be back for another match

 

I'm not too concerned about our dependancy on our wings, we always kinda did, for those of us who remember De La Cruz's crosses, that was our bread and butter. I do believe that if our wings get blocked off, Caicedo and Benitez will shine.

 

Ecuador has always depended on wing play but back then we had Delgado. If Caicedo was a good header of the ball I wouldn't worry but this isn't the case and Benitez is usually the one winning headers. We have great wingers so we should definetely go that route but in this game I saw some good opportunities to shoot passed up for a pass to the wings.

 

I agree with you, i've been seeing and saying the same thing. A creative midfielder would be icing on the cake for this NT so we can finally see how aggressive Ecuador can really be at it's maximum potential. But as long as Rueda selects the wingers appropriately, we'll be ok just about every time. I think vs. Peru we should play Saritama in the mid instead of Pedro Quinonez and play Castillo instead of Noboa (who as some people here say is suspended, and im pretty sure he is). Pedro Quinonez did a good job vs. Peru IMO but he doesn't advance with the ball up the field since that's not one of his characteristics, and in the game vs. Peru we need someone who can somewhat do that- and the only option is Saritama since Noboa will be out. Castillo as the 5 and Saritama running back and forth. I'd stick with Montero and Valencia as wings.

The big concern here is Paredes, Erazo, Arroyo, Campos - the Barcelona players. Paredes has had great games in just about every single game of the Qualifier where he's stood out and vs. Paraguay he was the worst on the field. Good thing Paraguay didn't attack much either. Erazo did well, but he wasn't really challenged against them so it's hard to see where he really stands too, although I don't ever doubt him. I'm also hoping Michael Arroyo can get back in shape 100%, b/c he could be very useful these next two games. Last December i could've sworn Arroyo was the best left winger we had b/c of the way he was performing in BSC, I'd like to see him back at that level. And finally Campos won't be back til a month from now so who knows if he'll make it on time or not. Each one of these guys is a very important piece in our NT.

I'm kind of pissed we play Germany a few days before 2 of the most important Qualifier games we have. I wish that game would get canceled, it's so unnecessary. Risks of injuries, losing, and not enough resting time in between isn't good at all. Stupid move on the FEF's part that I just noticed. Rueda will have to play smart vs. Peru- we can't be missing important players vs. Argentina. And Argentina isn't gonna have it easy at all in Buenos Aires vs. Colombia so we can't get too confident thinking that they'll come to Quito qualified with a B team. Colombia is no joke. I'm surprised they didn't come out of Venezuela with a point or 3 the way they played. Quite disappointing for them.

 

Colombia hasnt really shown being a tough away team, at least to me, sure they had a great showing in Chile but they had one more player almost the entire game, their performance against Peru in Lima and against us in Quito wasnt anything to be intimidated by and the game in Venezuela, well, I have to say we played a much better game there without Caicedo our best player, I think Argentina will want to clinch in that game with their crowd and the rumour is that it will be played at Rosario, Messi's hometown, due to his request. so I think Argentina will consider who goes to Quito, either way we must be ready to play Messi and company but we shouldnt comeback empty handed from Lima.
Castillo is the best def mid we have, period, one of the most underated players we have and we'll need him in Lima,I also agree with B9 that Sariama should fit in nicely, I expect a lot of yellows in this game cus it will be HEATED. Peru will be against the wall in this one and it will be different from our last visits, they are a better team, but so are we.