On January 27, 2010, Enner Valencia was the biggest surprise in the formation of Emelec. On that date, the Blues drew 0-0 with Newell’s Old Boys at the Marcelo Bielsa Stadium in Rosario. The man from Esmeralda was an unknown when he traveled in a delegation of 20 footballers for the first match of the preliminary stage of the Copa Libertadores.

Enner Valencia is fighting for the qualifications for the Golden Boot

For that match, Jorge Sampaoli, with less than a month of work as an electro coach, invited Valencia. “Emelec’s starting line-up is in doubt,” reported EL UNIVERSO, who did not include the 20-year-old in the likely starting eleven. The future crack was not on the radar of the press. Sampaoli upset the forecasts by fielding an unknown player against Rosario from the start. Enner was placed on the wing. That’s how the story began with Sampaoli as DT who gave Valencia their first big chance.

High risk

Superman Valencia will visit Sevilla’s Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium this Thursday. The Turkish Fenerbahçe will play there against the Andalusians in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League. The National Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport has already declared that gathering “risky”. “More than 3,000 Turks are expected to be displaced. Fenerbahce fans have been banned from traveling through Turkey with their team due to criticism of President Erdogan, causing a mass exodus from their country,” the newspaper said. Sportfrom Barcelona.

Praise in Europe for Enner Valencia for his ‘top’ level at Fenerbahce: “he has no brakes”

Football stuff. He started his professional life hand in hand with Sampaoli, who is today a scorer in the Turkish Super League, a situation that makes Enner one of the competitors for the European Golden Boot. Ecuador’s top scorer at the World Cups in Brazil 2014 and Qatar 2022, the greatest net breaker in the edition of the Mexican championship, Emelec figure until 2013 (he won the Ecuadorian crown that year, before starting his career abroad), Could be anyone ends the second stage of Sampaoli in Sevilla.

How to stop Enner?

For the 62-year-old DT, facing Fenerbahce, in a personal way, also entails “high risk”. The biggest danger that the former Emelec coach will face individually will be the unstoppable scoring streak of Enner Valencia. The joint mission will be to stop all of Istanbul.

the newspaper AS, from Spain, reports this: “Sampaoli’s continuity at Sevilla hangs on a thin but resilient thread: how expensive would his removal be. The humiliation suffered against Atlético de Madrid at the Metropolitano (6-1 defeat) made most of the fans condemn the coach for his wrong approaches and even worse readings of the games”.

Enner Valencia: I’m going to Emelec with my eyes closed, I wouldn’t go to Barcelona SC. There is only one classic in Ecuador…

The note added that “Sampaoli is risking his position as Sevilla coach in a busy and decisive week during which Sánchez-Pizjuán will hand down his sentence. First with the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League against Fenerbahce, and three days later against Almeria, to decide who remains in the relegation places. Two bad results, even one, would hasten the coach’s departure as long as Andalusia’s battered economy allows it.

mess in the dressing room

But as well as looking for a formula to curb Enner’s huge appetite for goals, Sampaoli must try to calm the Sevilla squad. mentions AS that “above all, the locker room also expressed that it is far from 100% with its coach. And it is interesting that it was broadcast by Marcos Acuña (world champion in Qatar), Sampaoli’s compatriot. ‘The players have to understand what we need. They give us tools, but we don’t understand them,’ said the left back, who a week ago was already the protagonist when he tore the paper with the instructions Sampaoli had given out of the hands of his teammates and threw them on the ground.

The mentioned media points out that Sampaoli was “almost seen for the sentencing” and that “his continuity would be a chimera if it were not for the expensive expenditure that his dismissal would entail”. Fans erupted after jeers against Atlético, and the dressing room reveals that no one understands the coach, but his dismissal is not clear at the club. (D)