Sub-20: Ecuador Qualify To The Round of 16

On Saturday Ecuador faced Costa Rica for their third and decisive match of the U-20 World Cup. Ecuador needed to win this match in order to directly qualify for the round of 16 and not wait for other results.

Ecuador Jersey Source: El Comercio
Soccer Field Background Source: www.soccermastermind.com


Vizuete put the same players on the pitch for this game but made two changes. He put in Deportivo Quito's Dixon Arroyo for the suspended Ona and Barcelona's starlet Bryan De La Torre for Juan Govea.




Bryan De La Torre was a crucial component that led to the Ecuadorian victory. He participated in Ecuador's first two goals with his speed and agility. De La Torre did what Govea failed to do in the past two games, link up with his supporting defender and take turns going forward.The most important part of this game was that our forwards finally found the back of the net,especially Marlon De Jesus. This gave them confidence which they will need for the round of 16.
The two central midfielders are still struggling to support the attacking field as oppose to play a few yards from the defense. What they need to be are box to box midfielders that recover possession in the defense as well as feed the ball to the forwards with precision.
Ecuador will face the U-19 European champions France on Wednesday. Hopefully the midfield problem will be fixed by then and our forwards will continue scoring goals by then. The victory is not impossible, after all Colombia did put 4 past them and still managed to miss a penalty.

Liga Tied Yaracuyanos In Sudamericana Debut

Yesterday Liga versed Venezuelean side Yaracuyanos for the first stage of the Copa Sudamericana. Liga were looking to play defensively so they can concede the least amount of goals possible.



At the 63rd minute, a hand ball was called in the box and Hernan Barcos put Los Albos in the lead. During the 78th minute, Colombian Edwin Chalar controlled a through ball perfectly, ran into the box and tied the game up. Liga will face Yaracuyanos again on August 17 for the return leg.

Sub-20:Ecuador Fall Against Spain

Yesterday Ecuador faced Spain for their second match of the U-20 World Cup. Ecuador were looking to surprise Spain and receive their first victory of the tournament while La Roja was looking to seal their way to the round of 16 with at least a tie.

Ecuador Jersey Source: El Comercio
Soccer Field Background Source: www.soccermastermind.com

Vizuete did not change the line up for this game. La Tricolor played a 4-2-2-2 with John Jaramillo in the back with Mario Pineida and Eder Fuertes as wing backs and Dennis Quinonez and John Narvez in the middle. Jose Govea was called last minute after the talented Rento Ibarra picked up a last minute injury. On the other wing was Marcos Caicedo with Fernando Gaibor and Andrés Oña in the center midfield. Up front was Edison Montano and Marlon De Jesus.



The U-20 team is having the exact same problem the National team is having, they have yet to find a goalscorer. Yesterday Ecuador played well although John Narvez had some incredible blunders that almost cost us the game early on. It is a shame that right when it seemed Ecuador was going to score, the only player that was booked, Andrés Oña picked up his second yellow and Spain's opening goal came shortly after that.
It seems Ecuador is not using their main weapon to their advantage, River Plate player Juan Casares. He barely got any play time in both games. Ecuador should play with a 4-2-3-1, with Juan Casares playing in the hole to create dangerous plays like he does so well in the reserves of River Plate, even with a 4-1-2-1-2 would work.
Marlon De Jesus is a exceptional player, he has pace, agility but like Cristian Benitez, he lacks the key talent that a forward needs, scoring goals. In both games Marlon has had countless shots on goals and all of them cause the opposing goalkeeper to produce an amazing save. It seems that luck is not on his side, hopefully he will find the net against Costa Rica.
Ecuador are now forced to win against Costa Rica on Saturday if they want any chance to qualify to the round of 16. Hopefully Casares will start this game.

Suarez's Golazo Qualifies Santos To Next Round

Yesterday Santos faced Olimpia of Honduras for the return leg of the preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League. Santos were looking to avoid getting scored on since Olimpia lost 3-1 in the first leg and got the ever important away goal. While Olimpia were looking to use their home field advantage to qualify to the group stages.



At the 13th minute, Cristian Suarez stole the ball and dribbled past three players and the goalkeeper to give Los De La Comarca the lead. Two minutes later, after two headers in the box, the home side tied the game courtesy of Roger Rojas. Right before the game was about to end, defender Brayan Beckles scored for Olimpia following an indirect free-kick.

Jaime Gives Pachuca Victory

Yesterday Pachuca faced Cruz Azul at home for the third round of the Mexican Apertura. Pachuca were looking to get their first home win of the tournament while Cruz Azul were looking to continue their winning streak.



At the 85th minute Ayovi headed in a corner by Rogelio Chávez Martínez to give Los Tuzos the three points. Jaime has scored 2 goals in three games so far.

Quito Wins By The Minimum In Sudamericana

Yesterday Deportivo Quito faced Anzoategui at home for the first stage of the Copa Sudamericana at home. Los Chullas were looking to prove that Ecuador futbol was superior to Venezuela who La Tricolor seems to have a hard time beating.



At the 61st minute Maximilian Bevacqua scored a beautiful diving header following a corner kick to score the only goal of the match. Los Chullas will play the return match on August 16.

Sub-20: New Tri, Same Problem

Yesterday La Tricolor debuted in Colombia for the U-20 FIFA World Cup against Australia. After the horrible results of the Copa America, the Ecuadorian people put all their hopes on the promising U-20 to bring success.

Ecuador Jersey Source: El Comercio
Soccer Field Background Source: www.soccermastermind.com

Vizuete lined up the team with his classic 4-4-2, which seemed more like a 4-2-2-2. John Jaramillo in the back with Mario Pineida and Eder Fuertes as wing backs and Dennis Quinonez and John Narvez in the middle. Jose Govea was called last minute after the talented Rento Ibarra picked up a last minute injury. On the other wing was Marcos Caicedo with Fernando Gaibor and Andrés Oña in the center midfield. Up front was Edison Montano and Marlon De Jesus.



Ecuador was superior to the Sooceroos for most of the match but Mark Birighitti made sure not to let all the efforts by La Tricolor to go on. The problem with the U-20 team is that they play too offensive minded and leave the back too exposed. It seemed like for most of the match, Ecuador was playing with four forwards, leaving Ona and Gaibor to play close to the defense. This in turn made their participation in the attacking half of the midfield non-existence. The inclusion of River Plate startlet Casares seemed too late. Following a few exceptions, Ona and Gaibor played more defensively and did not support of the offense. The weakest point of Ecuador seems to be the left backs because they rarely went up to support the offense and their defending left to be desired.
On the positive note, Marlon De Jesus played very well, it seems that he has grown past that horror blunder he had in the U-20 South American tournament. John Narvez seemed like he has an exceptional future with Ecuador. He was strong, confident and often fed the ball ti the midfield very elegantly.
La Tricolor were too confident with the 1-0 result and did not bother to assure the victory by scoring another goal and the end result was Australia's last minute goal. Now Ecuador will face powerhouse Spain on Wednesday who did not play well but managed to score four goals past Costa Rica. Hopefully Ecuador will be with all guns blazing by then and produce a shocking result.