In light of the undeniable growth in recent decades, a certain sector of Ecuadorian sports journalism is beginning to propose – or claim – the designation of “third in South America” ​​for soccer in its country, behind of course the two usual giants, Argentina and Brazil. An unofficial but prestigious title that clearly belonged to Uruguay for half a century and was flirted with by Paraguay, Chile, once Peru, and even Colombia. Everyone wanted to be “third”, no bad thing considering the two colossus leading the way.

Without a doubt, Ecuador is the medium with the greatest football development in the last 34 years. We say exactly thirty-four because it was the Copa América in 1989, with Dušan Drašković as coach, where there was a break in quality and the rise of football, which historically was among the last three along with Bolivia and Venezuela, began. But the inclusion of players of Afro-descendants promoted by Drašković, technical progress, above all moderation of character and the sporting and institutional strengthening of his clubs led to the shining present. Ecuador is no longer conceding goals, goals. He does not come out to see what is happening in the game, but to impose it. His team are already clear favorites to qualify for every World Cup and players with the capacity to play in Europe are starting to emerge.

The one who knows how to sign wins

But is that enough to dethrone, for example, Uruguay, double Olympic and world champion, winner of 15 Copa América and eight Libertadores, cradle of so many great footballers…? Only currently can be named Luis Suárez, Édinson Cavani, Federico Valverde, Ronald Araujo, Darwin Núñez, De Arrascaeta…

Is it more than Chile, the two-time American champion and the country of numerous recent personalities such as Salas, Zamorano, Vidal, Alexis Sánchez, Claudio Bravo…? Does it surpass Colombia, an important promoter at the national level and one of the most prolific exporters of talent in recent years…?

Dream of the World Cup with poker at the venue

“Ecuadorian football has grown enormously, at the level of club and representative teams. Of the six world championships in the 21st century, they classified four. But when Ecuadorian journalism uses the word power to allude to soccer in the country, I listen with skepticism – says Ricardo Vasconcellos Figueroa, sports editor of EL UNIVERSO. When the Ecuadorian national team qualified for its first World Cup (2002), I was living in Mexico and that same afternoon, and in the days that followed, the national press was loudly describing Ecuador as a ‘world power’. Such excesses are met with understanding among fans. Euphoria, and perhaps the desire to please, won over measured reasoning. He then defines his order: “From my point of view, the powers of South America are three, and the tectonic plates of Conmebol have not moved at the top. Brazil and Argentina, alternating first and second place on the podium (today Argentina is first); and Uruguay, third. Between the three of them, they have ten world titles, 39 Copa América titles and five Olympic gold medals. No one in Conmebol comes close to them.”

They are no longer hits

He ranking The World Cup is not in honor of Ecuador: it ranks seventh in South America behind Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru and Chile. He could not get to the World Cup because he won only one game, against Qatar, the only place in history that lost in three presentations. irranking Conmebola at club level shows Independiente del Valle as its highest representative in position twelve

“Brazil and Argentina are two big ones. The third is Uruguay and that will not change. They remain in force in the World Cups, in football and adults. Ecuador has grown a lot and is on the rise. They have developed enormously from the biotype and will surely become a permanent animator for the other teams”, says Danilo Díaz, Chilean colleague, director of the magazine. Andean tribune.

Copa América in the United States, is that okay…?

We consulted a dozen magnificent references in South American journalism: they all agreed on the evident progress of Ecuadorian football, but almost no one assigns it the third step, except for the Argentine journalist Leandro Rodríguez, from bitbol.la. “If you take the last four years, at the club level, definitely yes. Mostly independent of the valley, something from Barcelona to half of the Libertadores. He sold players directly to Europe like Moisés Caicedo or Pervis Estupiñán. When everything is arranged, yes today. It is above Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Colombia, although I think it should have a good next Copa América to achieve that mark”.

To earn the tag of third in the Americas, we think you have to maintain it over time, qualifying for the World Cups for two decades, doing well in them, winning or reaching the final of the Copa América, winning the club tournament again and winning some stars, such as was Alberto Spencer in the 60s One thing is clear: Ecuador is fighting against the history of Uruguay. And against his fame.

It is Javier De León, a distinguished Uruguayan radio operator, who makes his contribution: “Without a doubt, Ecuador is the one that has evolved the most in the last 20 or 25 years. In the past, the three weakest were Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. They were not counted directly. This changed radically in the case of Ecuador. However, from there, considering him third in South America seems too much to me. The football benchmark of countries is world championships. And he did not have good performances in the world cups. In fact, the first phase did not pass in Qatar. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay are still the top three. Moreover, taking into account the last four world championships, Argentina first”.

José Luis Pierrend, a Peruvian statistician based in the US, argues: “For me, Ecuador is not a third power. At the club level, especially because of what Independiente del Valle did, maybe yes; but in general – national teams and clubs – not yet. They need to consolidate their performances in the Copa América: continuously advance to the quarter-finals and from there enter the semi-finals. Going back to the 60s and 70s and considering Argentina and Brazil as top 2, third place was cyclical: Peru in the 70s, Uruguay in the 80s, Colombia in the 90s, maybe the 2000s were not so clear, Chile in the 2010s, and maybe this decade of the 2020s is the one Ecuador. But we will have to wait.”

Ricardo Montoya, a journalist and professor of literature, also Peruvian, points out a specific fact: “Ecuador has a historical debt to the Copa América, a very important tournament at the continental level. It was always very bad for him there”.

Yes, there is a finding: the very fact that third place is taken into account speaks of the progress of tricolor football. (OR)