For the Argentine press, Gustavo Alfaro ‘revolutionized Ecuadorian football in all its dimensions’

“Gustavo Alfaro revolutionized Ecuadorian soccer.” This is how a note published this Tuesday in the internet edition of the sports newspaper begins Ole which collects data on the current score of the National Team and correlates them with the 31 points that the Tri garnered on the way to its first World Cup, South Korea and Japan 2002.

The bombastic announcement in the popular Argentine newspaper came after Ecuador’s 2-0 victory over Chile, in the match they played this Tuesday in Santiago for date 14 of the South American qualifier.

“Gustavo Alfaro revolutionized Ecuadorian soccer. In all its dimension: not only from the points he has achieved so far that put the National Team with one foot in Qatar 2022, but also from the style he found from summoning new footballers, many of them young people who previously had no chances ” says part of the note signed by Martín Berretti.

Although Berretti recognizes that Ecuador has not yet qualified for the World Cup next year, he assumes that “he has everything in his favor to get the ticket.”

And he complements his analysis with an interesting operation, before weighing and placing Gustavo Alfaro at the top of the best technical directors that the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) has hired, without giving any credit to Montenegrin Dusan Draskovic or Colombian Francisco Maturana , who led a transformation process in our football between 1988 and 1993 and 1995 to 1997, respectively.

“The fundamental thing is that (Ecuador) accumulates 23 points, six more than its immediate pursuers, which are Colombia and Peru, which, due to a goal difference, is fifth and is in the play-off zone, at least for now. That means that La Tri took two victories ahead of their direct rivals with 12 points at stake. The equation is simple and indicates that, except for a catastrophe and that 2022 is not really the year of Ecuador, the players begin to get a ticket to play the World Cup ”, calculates the reporter from Ole.

Berretti, who asserts that Gustavo Alfaro has revolutionized Ecuadorian football in all its dimensions, estimates that the Tri next March will seek to “ensure what is already underway.” He also adds that Alfaro’s Ecuador will seek to break a record held by the one selected since the 2002 tie for South Korea and Japan.

That time, after 18 rounds, he finished second with 31 points (nine wins, four draws and five losses), only behind Marcelo Bielsa’s Argentina, who swept and then disappointed in Asia.

On the way to Qatar 2022, Ecuador closes 2021 with 23 units (seven wins, two draws and five losses). Twelve points remain at stake in four rounds to play. The journalist’s expectation of Ole is that Gustavo Alfaro’s Tri can equal 31, reach 33 … or more (35?).

“The concrete thing is that he will have to get at least eight points to equal that performance and nine to overcome it. But this Alfaro team can do everything ”, Berretti concludes with exultation. (D)