Ecuador starts with six points less in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Yes, soccer buddies. We lost three points in a match against the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) and the FIFA Disciplinary Commission because we wanted to make a fool of ourselves with the Byron Castillo Segura case. The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) was not innocent in this case. Within the organization, they raised the question of the questionable nationality of the top scorer well before the start of the Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

Is Félix Sánchez Bas something more than the formidable Gustavo Alfaro?

There were so many doubts that the FEF Commission of Inquiry opened a file. And on December 26, 2018, Jaime Jara López, a retired police officer and president of the organization, issued a report confirming the player’s affiliation, concluding that Castillo is Colombian. Emelec has already sent him back due to a lack of papers, and FEF vice-president Carlos Manzur himself considered his inclusion in the national team to be a risk. This was the leader’s criterion, but it prevailed over the request of coach Gustavo Alfaro, who forced the invitation and the lineup of the team in eight games. The case is strange, because in that match certain leaders were the ones who imposed the lists, as happened and continues to happen with the player Kevin Rodríguez. Where do the doubts about his inclusion come from? Because before and today it happens before juicy negotiations between the club and some powerful businessman, the postponement of players with a positive presence, as is the case with Leonardo Campana from Guayaquil, Inter’s striker from Miami, where he played very well with Lionel Messi, no less. .

FEF and LigaPro: Football, hypocrisy and cynicism

The apparent mistake of donning the tricolor on a soccer player with dubious documentation has sparked a complaint from Chile. Only the proximity of the World Cup prevented us from missing the tournament, but it did not prevent the embarrassment of accusations of offensive behavior and violations of the principles of fair play and the FIFA Disciplinary Code. As a penalty, we had to start the current qualifying round with three less points and pay a hefty fine of $123,000. In a sign that the Roma are not reading their palm, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee dismissed the charges against the Ecuadorian Football Association. What is certain is that the FEF had already conceded three points in a morale match before the ball was moved last Thursday.

Iron curtain, heavenly memory

We lost the other three on Thursday at River Plate’s Monumental thanks to Lionel Messi’s superb free-kick, one of his specialties. Nothing to do for Hernán Galíndez. The best player in the world in the 21st century beat any goalkeeper on the planet. I point this out because the spokesmen from the pink circle of the FEF are proclaiming Ecuador’s “heroic resistance” and trying to unfairly blame the goalkeeper whose game kept a clean sheet until Messi showed the genius that took him to Olympus.

Facing a world champion team is a tough undertaking. Not only technically, but also emotionally. Many famous names with brilliant careers in elite, not second-division clubs, perform in their own stadium in front of passionate audiences. A team with five years of work, perfectly assembled and with the aura of winning the Copa América, the Finalísima and the World Cup. How do you try to neutralize so many scrolls?

Undoubtedly, defensive precautions, with order, preventing the creation of the opponent’s play and trying to break the opponent’s rear with quick and effective counterattacks. Was that what coach Sánchez Bas suggested?

No, not a minute of fighting. Without any shame, he threw two lines of five in front of Galíndez’s goal. Commissions? Never, because that requires a creator, an intelligent and imaginative player, and that situational manager does not exist in our football. Although it is not his usual position, he used to line up with Ángel Mena, but for no technical reason he lost space because he did not belong to a club that likes national team coaches. Mena, an idol in his club in Mexico for his goals and creativity, was the one who was greatly neglected by Gustavo Alfaro, very attached to the details of the dressing room and the leader’s favorite clubs.

The formula of deploying five defenders means that when the ball is returned, the results increase with the support of at least one of the midfielders and the rise of the attackers. There was none of that in the 90 minutes of play. Estupiñán – overrated – has little branding and its best virtue is a stampede down the wing. He never came to support the sporadic upswings of Enner Valencia, the biggest victim of the evening alongside Galíndez. Without support, he lost all his duels with the outstanding Cuti Romero. He only managed to get into the center of Argentina’s defense once, he was spoiled by the always happy Kevin Rodríguez, who was invited only to revalue him and sold him to Royale Union Saint Gilloise five days ago. If I were a footballer these days, I’d want to wear the Independiente del Valle badge and have Kevin’s businessman on my side. What a way to do good business! I recommend this initiative to Miguel Parrales from Manabi, a 27-year-old, 1.82 m tall and the first scorer of the Pro League with 15 goals in 19 games, of whose existence the manipulative Sánchez Bas knows nothing.

For almost 70 minutes, between the tumbling, throwing and kicking of their midfielders, Ecuador kept a clean sheet, until Messi’s comet arrived that Galíndez, his childhood companion in Rosario, stopped. Only that was produced by Caicedo, Gruezo and Cifuentes. What happened with Caiced was disappointing. Little in containment and zero in support.

Not to mention Gonzalo Plata who is more lead than silver. A burden that contributes nothing, but is a nuisance. Caicedo was accused of three attacks: two on Messi and one on Enzo Fernández. Where is the Premier League transfer record star? Bad for Chelsea, scathing criticism from the English press, some gifts from the ever-dedicated national radio and television journalists who spoke to Sánchez Basa about the muscle injury. If he was reduced, why did he stay on the field?

There are those who show a mask of attachment to the leaders, coach and players, and say that the game of our national team was “masterful”. According to our journalistic line, we distance ourselves from those sleazy opinions. Nor do we accept that we “play as equals with the world champions”. It’s not true. Argentina was looking for a game from the first minute, and we decided to resist. We never really got serious about the Martinez frame. Two very weak strikes from Valencia and one perhaps in jest by Kevin Rodríguez were all we tried.

Now comes Uruguay, at home and at altitude, with players playing on the plain. Maybe we’ll try something more decent than what we showed in Buenos Aires. (OR)

South American qualifiers 2026