I wanted to have Diego Almeida in this call, even with a European passport, confessed Gustavo Alfaro

The Ecuadorian national team coach, Gustavo Alfaro, revealed on Thursday night that the promising central defender Diego Almeida Crespo is one of the 72 players who are “in the orbit of observing Ecuadorians around the world.” Likewise, he highlighted the technical conditions of the man born in Rubí (Spain), his defensive intelligence and other virtues that are typical of teaching at La Masia of FC Barcelona.

Almeida, a 17-year-old defender who plays for Barça’s Juvenil A and who on November 11 worked with the Barça first team under Xavi Hernández, could make his debut in the tricolor team under the command of Argentine Alfaro during the friendly of this Saturday, December 4 against the El Salvador national team, in the American city of Houston.

“I believe more in intelligence than in experience, I believe that experience is important, but intelligence is much more important,” Alfaro began by explaining the inclusion in his process of young figures, as he has been doing in the middle of the South American qualifying round for the Qatar World Cup 2022.

And the coach continued: “When I saw Almeida I liked his technical conditions, his ability to work the first pass well, his tendency to hide the ball until the play started, which he does very well.”

“It has that ability to read the game that makes it reverberate and cover the spaces very well,” he added.

Alfaro said that his new youth summoned “coming from a very good school such as FC Barcelona, ​​will give him a very important background because he is training with a very European culture, very professional, without losing his own idiosyncrasy. the Ecuadorian player has ”.

The purpose is “to mix the discipline of the player who is trained in Europe with the talent of the South American, which is the talent of the Ecuadorian player and that is what we are aiming for in these times,” he acknowledged.

‘I wanted to have it like this out with a European passport’

Alfaro indicated that he has a “very nice expectation” regarding Diego, although he understands that he is a 17-year-old boy who “has to be taken little by little”, although “he looks very well planted, he looks very mature in his perception, in his conception, in his way of analyzing things ”.

“Obviously, at 17 years old, you believe and want them to be urgent and fast, but they shouldn’t be rushed and that’s when you have to play with those times. But I am convinced that this is a selection project that has its short-term objective, which is to fight for qualification for a World Cup; but on the other hand, it is the long-term project of establishing a selection that will be valid for at least ten years ”, he explained.

To make this call “we spoke with the boy and the family and there was a very good disposition”, confessed the Argentine DT. “The boy did not have an Ecuadorian passport … The Ecuadorian Consulate in Barcelona gave him a quick passport so that he could join (the convocation). Lastly, I told him to come and enter (the United States) so be it with the European passport so that he does not miss this selection call, to be able to chat, to be able to get to know each other, so that he can see from the inside who we are , what are we doing, what do we intend to do ”.

Anyway, the helmsman of La Tri made it clear that Diego will have to resolve any doubts he still has regarding his international future, if he continues to defend Spain or elects the South American team tomorrow.

After Saturday’s friendly, Ecuador will reappear in the Conmebol World Cup against Brazil on January 27 in Quito, and four days later it will visit Peru, in Lima, while on the penultimate date, March 24, it will go against Paraguay, in Asunción, and on the 29th of the same month he will close at home against Argentina. (D)