The selection of Ecuador equalized once morest the favorite Netherlands on the second day of Group A of the Qatar World Cup.
A quick goal by Cody Gakpo, at 5′, put ‘Oranje’ ahead of ‘La Tri’. However, Enner Valencia, at 49 ‘, matched everything.
Enner Valencia revived the Ecuadorian dream of moving forward in the World Cup. The South American team was only one point away from qualifying for the second time in history for the round of 16.
As in the opening game, the attacker was the savior of his team and, as then, he had to leave, in tears, injured in the final stretch of the duelwho continued from the bench with an ice pack on his right knee.
Ecuador will be waiting for that once more in the next few days, before the final duel once morest Senegal.
La Tri stood up to one of those armed teams to win the World Cup and at times he even unbalanced his control game, until the captain’s magic obtained the sought-following prize.
Valencia is magic in the World Cup and the criticism it has received in its country seems improbable when you see its numbers in this competition.
The last six Ecuadorian goals in World Cups have come from his boots and following the two that he scored once morest Qatar in the opening match, he got another one that will secure him as the top scorer of the Tri in world championships. He already has as many goals in his coffers as he scored in Brazil eight years ago in Ecuador’s penultimate World Cup appearance.
Valencia is the soul of the team, the culmination of a team that wins integers and that will have to look for a point once morest Senegal on the last date to be once once more among the 16 best in the world.
The prize for the work of a selector, Gustavo Alfarowhich has turned a young generation of players into a gaming machine, with a very defined spirit, a version that does not clash among the football elite.
It was difficult for Ecuador to come down from the cloud of the opening match. He entered the pitch of Al Khalifa timid and the mistake cost him a goal following 6 minutes, in an error in Caicedo’s midfield that allowed Klaassen got a good cross that Gakpo sent into the net from 18 meters, without Hernán Galíndez being able to do anything to stop him.
A blow for a team that had gone through seven games with its goal intact and that was forced to come back once morest one of the best teams in the world, a squad that Louis van Gaal has turned into a machine not to lose.
The confusion lasted for a few minutes, surrounded by the shouts of the Ecuadorian stands, the “yes we can” who were breathing faith in the Tri, who ran following the ball, confiscated by the “orange” convinced that this was the best defense .
The center of the field was the kingdom of Frenkie de Jong, who monopolized the game at will, owner and lord of the ball.
Alfaro, who had started with a more defensive approach than once morest Qatar, with three central defenders, was forced to move forward and his team once once more showed signs of versatility to adapt to the circumstances.
Ecuador was forcing the Netherlands to back down and the game began to be played in the field of the Europeans, who noticed the first Greeks following minute 20, pushed by Plata from the right and Caicedo from the left.
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There Valencia joined, who gave a first warning on the 27th and another five later to force Noppert to stretch.
The gunner from La Tri put the team on his back and with time up he was able to equalize with a header from Estupiñán’s center that deflected the defense into a corner.
In the kick of the same, following a cross from Preciado, Estupiñán managed to deflect the ball into the net, but the referee canceled it considering that Porozo, offside, prevented the vision of the goalkeeper.
The protests of the Ecuadorians did not change the referee’s mind and Ecuador was stained down on the scoreboard at half-time, but with hope restored, a faith that found a reward shortly following returning from the locker room when the messiah Valencia appeared.
The Fenerbache player continues in his idyll with the World Cups and his sense of smell has not lost power. He was in the six-yard box when the Dutch goalkeeper parried a powerful shot from Estupiñán and took advantage of it to achieve the tie.
He woke up the stands and Ecuador launched an offensive that was regarding to allow them to turn the score around when Gonzalo Plata took advantage of a rebound of a shot from Valencia and with a powerful left foot he smashed the ball into the crossbar with Noppert already beaten.
The script for the first half was overwhelmed and the game entered a phase of mismanagement that seemed to benefit Ecuador more, until Van Gaal’s men recovered the thread with determination.
But Ecuador’s adrenaline was high and each contact with the ball was electric, a constant threat, without De Jong being able to reign in the construction zone as he had in the first half.
Ecuador threatened, but Valencia’s gunpowder was no longer enough. A tie that tastes of hope.
