Gustavo Alfaro has to rearm the defense and the lead for Ecuador’s revenge against Venezuela

The Ecuador coach, Gustavo Alfaro, began on Monday the process to reassemble the tricolor team in the face of the four casualties that it will suffer to face Venezuela, in Quito, this Thursday, November 11, for the thirteenth date of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

With double-day training and a full team, Alfaro is looking for those who can replace players considered permanent, such as defenders Pervis Estupiñán and Diego Palacios (he is not a regular starter), attackers Ángel Mena and Michael Estrada, all of them suspended due to accumulation of cautions , and the team’s historic goalscorer, with 33 goals, Enner Valencia, due to injury.

Quito League defender Christian Cruz could make his debut as Estupiñán’s replacement, although the coach could use center-back Piero Hincapié, who has already played on the left side with his team, Bayer Leverkusen.

Mena could also be replaced with Gonzalo Plata, while in the position of the scorers Estrada and Valencia, the first to appear are Jordy Caicedo and Bryan Angulo.

Caicedo, from CSKA Sofía, from Bulgaria, last June made his debut with the Tricolor mayor in the 2-0 defeat against Brazil, in Porto Alegre, and the next match of the tie also added minutes in the 1-2 fall against Peru, in Quito. The coach Gustavo Alfaro reiterated his confidence in the 23-year-old attacker from Ore, taking him to the 2021 Copa América in Brazil, in which he was a substitute and they used him in the 1-0 defeat against Colombia and in the 2-2 draw with Peru.

While, the Cuckoo Angulo accumulates fewer performances than Caicedo and 19 minutes are counted just for the recent World Cup commitments against Uruguay, in Montevideo (1-0); Bolivia, in Guayaquil (4-0), and Venezuela, in Caracas (2-1).

Alfaro summoned 30 players thinking about the double FIFA date that is coming, since on November 16 he will visit Chile, in Santiago.

In the meeting on October 10 between the two teams, Venezuela defeated Ecuador 2-1, in Caracas, so the next game is a rematch, although Vinotinto already savored a victory in the Quito stronghold, in 2007 , when they defeated La Tri 0-1 in the tie for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with both defender José Manuel Rey, a former Emelec player.

Ecuador will seek to stay in third place in the qualifying rounds that it maintains so far with 17 points, although it is under the watchful eye of Colombia and Uruguay, with 16 each; while Venezuela is the bottom of the contest with 7 units. (D)