Carlos Tenorio attacks FEF and Liga Pro over Ecuador’s loss to Argentina: They are susceptible to accepting absurdities such as increasing the number of foreign players

Ecuador’s soccer team was defeated by Argentina 1-0 last Thursday in Buenos Aires in the first round of South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Lionel Messi’s superb free-kick condemned the tricolors to relegation, and to make matters worse, this contest began with less than three points due to a sanction by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS, French acronym) for the Byron Castle case.

In the context of the defeat, Carlos Tenorio, the former striker of the tricolor, came to the defense of Kevin Rodríguez, one of the players who questioned coach Félix Sánchez Bas for his call.

“It’s incredible how we human beings destroy ourselves. I see a lot of negative comments against Kevin Rodríguez. One question, answer me: Another extreme player, not a center forward, because Kevin is not like that, who has the characteristics that are most important for an offensive player?

“All the players who are doing well in the national team today were the most criticized, but now it turns out that they are the most loved in the country. Now the question is: How many games did they have to play?” he added on his account on the X social network.

And given the criticism received by Rodríguez, who came in as a substitute, called out Demolition manhe blamed the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) and Liga Pro for the result.

“Do you know who to blame? To LigaPro and FEF who are ready to accept absurdities like increasing the number of foreign players. How do we want our players to be more involved week in and week out and improve?” he asked.

“They are not saying anything there because there are a few peseteros who are willing to support this kind of thing for a peso. And I will continue the fight until that solution is regulated, so that Ecuadorian players have the opportunity to show themselves more in the national championship,” he added.

Tenorio insisted that one player should not be blamed for the result and insisted on his defense of the striker.

“The other thing is how badly Kevin and all the boys played in the game against Argentina, which they beat us very well, whether we liked it or not. He played better than us, that’s football. But let’s not blame any player because we don’t like him or he plays for a team I’m not a fan of, what’s wrong with us?” he said.

“Tell me a player who has better characteristics than Kevin at the moment, but you have to give him time and minutes,” he concluded. (D)

South American qualifiers 2026