Ecuador have suffered two further injury absences ahead of two friendlies against Australia this month and already have four casualties, the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) said on Tuesday.
Valladolid midfielder Gonzalo Plata “has a muscle injury” in the region of the “adductors of the right leg”, the FEF said in a statement.
On the other hand, defender José Hurtado, who was called up for the first time to the Ecuadorian national team, will miss the games “due to a groin injury” suffered during a match with his team, the Red Bull Bragantino.
The national team’s top goalscorer Enner Valencia and experienced midfielder Carlos Gruezo will also miss the friendlies against Australia on 24 and 28 March in Sydney and Melbourne respectively.
To make up for these absences, Spanish coach Félix Sánchez called up midfielder Marco Angulo (Cincinnati, USA) and young defender Joel Ordóñez (Club Brugge, Belgium), who were focused on the Under-20 team.
The friendlies will mark Sánchez’s debut in charge of Ecuador. The coach replaced the Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, who managed to take the selection to the Qatar World Cupwhere he was eliminated in the first phase.
In his call-up, Sánchez maintained the base of players who participated in the World Cup. The news were the call-ups of Hurtado, Junior Sornoza (Independiente del Valle) and Alexander Alvarado (LDU).
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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