Francisco Egas, president of the Ecuadorian Football Association, said on January 28 that there was “no rush” to choose a coach to succeed Gustavo Alfaro, although the manager admitted there was “urgency due to the proximity” to FIFA. the date at the end of March, in which the national team will compete against Australia on the 20th and 28th (then “we should already have an acting coach”, noted the head of the FEF).

But the phrase “we don’t want to speed up”, uttered by Egas, seems to be a slogan taken literally: the Tricolor has been without a helmsman for three months. Due to the statements that Ricardo Gareca continuously made in the media in Peru and Argentina, as well as in other countries of the continent, the connection between Tiger it was practically closed. But today the coach is still without a team and this Tuesday he will have a meeting with the management of Vélez Sarsfield, the club that wants him.

“We have been talking for a month and they (the Ecuafútbol board) are looking for other alternatives, so the negotiations are stopped at this moment, at the last point. I think everything will be resolved this week,” Gareca told the Panamanian press in recent days.

On February 2, Gareca stated in ESPN that “there is a predisposition on both sides (him and FEF)” for him to take over the role of DT of Tri. And as Gareca most publicly presented the details of his negotiations with the Federation, he also revealed that “only the details that are important should be agreed upon.” For example, the number of people who can follow me, members and people who will live in Ecuador”.

But last Thursday, Garec’s encouragement about his options to take over the national team stopped, as can be seen from the Argentine’s conversation with Movistar Sports Peru. “Nothing has been defined yet. These are conversations, nothing more, that’s the only thing I can say,” he said.

Velež Priority

What happened between FEF and Tiger, who qualified Peru for the 2018 World Cup in Russia? The answer could be a television network TyC Sports, from Argentina. He mentioned on his website: “The former coach of the Peruvian team will travel from Córdoba to meet (this Tuesday, in Buenos Aires) with Christian Bassedas, the manager of the institution and who announced the departure of Alexander Medina in a press conference after the match against Xenizete” .

According to TyC Sports “Gareca had a sporting agreement with the Ecuadorian team, but the distance in numbers (salary) cooled the negotiations, making him a real alternative for the Velezano team.”

For the Gareca portal, “the biggest priority is for Fortín (Vélez), who, after being among the top four in America last year and reaching the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, finished twenty-second in the annual table in 2022, so he will not have an international competition in this calendar year In the current Professional League 2023, he added just five points in five games, beat Gymnastics on the first date, then collected two draws and two drops. (D)