NiCE The camera man did show some hot a$$ ecuatorianas during the game wish I could of been there just to eat and holler at some ecua mamis
Here are my player assessments: José Cevallos - 7 - Not tested very much. Solid as usual, did well on a dangerous break by Colombia to intercept the ball. Marcelo Elizaga - 5 - Made two major mistakes. Dropped a cross on his first involvement in the match, later he committed the penalty. A great save on the PK and the rebound boosts his rating, but he definitely needs to show more composure and decision-making. Iván Hurtado - 7 - The Ban Ban we all know showed up. Solid, serene, and showed leadership on and off the ball. Giovanni Espinoza - 7 - A rock in the back. Colombia could not pass him. Carlos Castro - 7 - Very solid and composed defending. Broke up a couple of plays and transitioned nicely to the midfield. Isaac Mina - 6 - Pretty solid performance but seemed out of position a couple of times. Most of Colombia's attacks were down that side, so I'm not sure if it was Mina's fault or if Colombia were just better on that side. Patricio Urrutia - 6 - did not play much. José Luis Cortez - 6 - defended well but didn't do much on the attacking side. Had a couple opportunities to move forward or make a daring pass but instead played it back to the defense. Segundo Castillo - 6 - not the presence we're used to seeing. Definitely lacking match fitness from a long pre-season. Defended OK but not involved at all in the attack like usual. Fernando Hidalgo - 5 - replaced Castillo but lacked the physical presence to command the midfield. Didn't do anything special. Joffre Guerrón - 5 - Invisible. His first half was atrocious, and his second half he showed a few glimpses of his game, but never really penetrated the Colombian defense. Seemed to struggle to control the ball on the turf, especially since his game is all about quick dribbling. Luis Bolaños - 7 - Good game from Chucho. Looked dangerous a few times on the left. The Colombians had a hard time with his tricky moves and speed. He needs a few more games and he'll be solid on the left wing. Omar De Jesús - 6 - Like the other defenders, stayed back and held well but did nothing on the attack. Walter Ayoví - 7 - One of the only guys who held on to the ball and tried some nice attacking moves. Felipe Caicedo - 6 - Has nice ball control and clever touches, but he's not getting himself into dangerous positions like he needs to be. Didn't play bad but not really good at all. Needs to get more aggressive. Pablo Palacios - 7 - Didn't play much time but pressed the defenders and midfield in a way that Caicedo didn't, which almost led to a couple of breaks. Cristian Benítez - 8 - Only player that stood out. Held the ball well when he received it despite tight marking, and started some nice passing combinations with Caicedo and Guerron. Getting the PK call and taking it showed some leadership, although he missed it, nice composure to tap in the rebound. We need to find him a partner up front. Overall - 6 - The individual performances were average, but the overall performance was less than average. The team found it difficult to keep possession, and the Colombians looked way more skillful, although not very effective. Our defense seems to be coming together, and I think our offense was hurt by the lack of service from the midfield. We are playing a 3-5-2 now, which is all good, but our midfield has 3 defensive mids and 2 wingers, and nobody to make the connection between the defense and the wingers or attackers. I'm seriously wondering about the possibility of naturalizing Manso, because it seems like Vizuete is trying to implement an LDU system with Guerron and Bolanos out wide. In any case, there are a couple of key ingredients missing from this team, which is more well-rounded and talented than both teams that made 2002 and 2006 WC's, but they seem to lack the punch of guys like Tin and Kaviedes.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this, Very insightful. One thing though; I believe it is "Bam Bam".
en el foro colombiano - rayu dice haber visto varias peleas? eso fue antes, en la tribuna o despues del partido, vos viste? como se vio el estadio 50/50 y o todo amarillo, sin saber quien era quien?
Yo vi dos instancias en que parece que hubo algo de pelea. Pienso que es algo normal debido a que las hinchadas estaban mezcladas y era mas o menos 50% de cada equipo.
Las peleas fueron durante el partido. Si hubo muchas peleas! es verdad... yo conte 7... y esas eran las de mi seccion solamente!.. Habia mucha agresion de los dos lados... El estadio era una ola de amarillo ! yo digo que habia mas ecuatorianos pero no por tanto... yo digo un 60/40 y todos mezclados muy dificil en diferenciar. Pero despues del partido habia hornados, parilladas, comidas tipicas, cervesas, musica y todos... ecuatorianos y colombianos todos alli de parranda y farra. Yo comi hasta hartarme de carne en palito y hornado con mote.. yum !
En declaraciones brindadas en rueda de prensa en Parcayacu, el presidente de la Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol, Luis Chiriboga, aseguró que la situación por la ausencia de Antonio Valencia en la selección es muy lamentable. Quito De acuerdo a lo que manifestó Chiriboga, la no presencia de Valencia al llamado de integrar el seleccionado nacional, pasaría por una decisión personal del jugador y señaló que a Valencia “le falta voluntad”. “Es muy lamentable, nosotros no hemos recibido ningún informe por parte del cuerpo médico del Wigan, así que lo que pasa es que a Valencia le importa más no perder la titularidad en su equipo que responder al llamado de su país”, enfatizó el presidente de la FEF. Valencia se habría comunicado con el seleccionador tricolor, Sixto Vizuete, y le habría manifestado que el técnico de su club, el inglés Steve Bruce esta ejerciendo presión sobre el para que no abandone el club, ya que lo necesita en el Wigan Athletic y podría perder la titularidad en caso de acudir al llamado de su selección. “Este es un método de presión inaceptable por parte del entrenador inglés…Si Valencia tuviera la voluntad hubiera venido, por lo que es inaceptable que no este auiqí (en Parcayacu)…necesitamos jugadores que se entreguen al máxim defendiendo a su país”, finalizó el máximo dirigente del fútbol ecuatoriano. ---------------------- Talk about an inept bastard! Rather than address the problems that the NT is facing with attack options, or the recent inconsistencies we've been having in games, he goes off and basically publicly lampoons arguably the best midfielder on the national team. Rather than congratulate the win, although it was ugly, he will play the same hard line politico and resort to name calling and senseless pride to get attention. Here's a thought, why not make a formal complaint to FIFA and the organizers of the game to answer why the game was played on a dangerous synthetic field which was literally still an American football field....but nooooooooo, thats too much to ask for. Ecuadawgs, we might disagree on which teams to support, even the situation of the Ecuadorian economy and society, but I think we have all agreed for several years that Chiriboga is the biggest detriment to the current progress that Ecuador has, is having, and will have in the future.....FUERA CHIRIBOGA. and just to clarify, I don't support the fact that Valencia didn't show up when he was called, because it was a FIFA day so there really is no excuse, especially when others on Wigan's team went to their national teams...I just think that Valencia is an asset to the team, probably one of the biggest, many agreed that his absence was hugely felt on the field but to outcast him like it seems that they're doing, they're staging a drama-fest on the NT when we should be more focused on the upcoming games and getting points, this is a great way to throw things out of wack for the NT...
2 things: 1) I disagree with you here. When you're the boss, you don't give special treatment to your better employees. You have to set the example. Letting Valencia slide would have been a bad precedent, especially given that Vizuete is relatively new - he has to set the tone that he's being dead serious. 2) I agree Valencia is a huge asset for the team, but tactically Guerron can fulfill the same exact role. I have said before that I'm not sure how both players can play together, hopefully Vizuete finds a way, but frankly what was missing against Colombia was ball control in the center, not speed on the wings. In that sense, Mendez was the key missing piece.
other than it being a fifa day, the game had no importance other than it being a friendly. at the end of the day, it's not even about making an example, the federation has done a good job of setting example out of Tin, Espinola, Dominguez, etc. with some ridiculous punishments. and none of these guys should be treated as employees, this is why its such a ludicrous precedent to keep because they're only employees of their clubs, and REPRESENTATIVES of the country as high profile citizens/players. i feel that doing this out in public hurts the team more because it's out there for everyone to probe and speculate..this should be resolved between the coach and the player, no one else. in a few days we'll see journalists asking the players who are training for the WCQ about valencia's absence, why they think he left, is he a patriot, etc...its a distraction and it's chiriboga's fault for possibly creating a bigger deal out of this than it really is..
Guerron is most def NOT Valencia. I think Valencia is more valuable than Guerron,Tono is a 4x4 recovers more balls and has a long range shot,,,something Guerron does not have,I think Guerron is better coming out the bench.
I went to see that game in Giants Stadium. I had fun. It was a tight game throughout. I was happy when Ecuador scored against Colombia. I became happier when Elizaga blocked the shot of the Colombian player that kicked the penalty shot. He is a very good goalie. Of course, that shot would not be the only Penalty shot that he would block as we all saw against Argentina to a player named Tevez and the rest is History.