Ecuador beat Uruguay 2-1 in Quito in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, managed to overcome the opponent’s initial advantage, the equalizer came in the extra minutes of the first half, which according to insiders represents a psychological blow; It gave the 16-year-old a cheeky debut and the winning goal (both actually) was scored by one of the defenders. Until then, everything is fine.

The victory filled the football country with enthusiasm, but this climate of justified fan fervor cannot in any way be compared to that of radio and television journalists who are always euphoric, paroxysmal, frantic to the extremes of laughter or ridicule (“Don’t ask me “make objective analyzes when La Tri game”, repeats the ‘commentator’, admitting that his issue is not objectivity, but a lack of focus when giving an opinion).

Now we start with six points less

He didn’t skimp on superlative adjectives, exclamatory sentences, and even pseudoscientific explanations of a prosopoeic, profound and hyperbolic character that oscillates between comic and funny: “What our national team plays is called associative memory,” he said when our football players didn’t understand. with the ball. Let’s be clear for the future: when a team doesn’t kick the ball and every player kicks the ball in any direction, they are practicing “associative memory.”

Iron curtain, heavenly memory

How beautiful football is when it gives us a reason to laugh in the midst of the sad social and political panorama that Ecuador is experiencing! May this ‘Salad Master’ of the 21st century never retire as a journalist!

They had a cannon in the left booty!

We have never used an inflator to carry out journalistic criticism with commitment to the truth and independence. Sometimes those in power or the Creole subjects they have in the media don’t like it. The freedom to expose what we believe to be true also produces an aggravating reaction in that toilet which is usually “dirty webs”. This is the risk of free, autonomous journalism not tied to commercial interests.

Ecuador won with attitude more than play. In the first half, the game of our national team was discreet. There was no connection between their lines. He defended well against an opponent who showed nothing of what he showed against Chile. That superior team, the owner of the midfield with Nicolás de la Cruz from River Plate and Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain and the relentless striker with Federico Valverde from Real Madrid and Darwin Núñez from England’s Liverpool, did not appear.

Nevertheless, they took the lead through Agustín Canobbio’s goal after Maximiliano Araujo ran down the left, outplayed Roberto Arboleda twice and slotted past Félix Torres. The Eastern striker defeated Hernán Galíndez without any hits in the half-turn. It was the first time that Uruguay reached a national goal and the only one in the opening half.

The national team never arrived either. The only moments of anxiety for goalkeeper Sergio Rochet were two shots from Enner Valencia and Ángel Preciado from outside the penalty area. It wasn’t until the corner kick that defender Félix Torres managed to score to equalize 1-1 in the last minute of extra time of the initial phase.

In a complementary game, the film seems to repeat itself. Unattractive game by both teams. Ugarte and Valverde did not appear in Uruguay; nor Moisés Caicedo in Ecuador. The defenders prevailed because in both opponents no one bet on the development of the game. Ecuador’s lead was an imaginary line. Jhojan Julio was only a sidekick, and Enner Valencia, like against Argentina with Cuti Romero, lost the duel with Martín Cáceres.

Valencia’s poor performance is unsurprising, contrasting with the scoring brilliance he achieved at Inter Porto Alegre. The explanation is simple: in the Brazilian club, he has teammates at a high level with whom he can build walls (they should be looking for a master mason in the national team), play with touch, exploit his speed and nose for goal. There is only bad company in our selection. Gonzalo Plata and Jhojan Julio are not up to par. Enner, so far infallible, even missed a penalty kick.

Then came Torres’ second goal in another game. Defenders Cáceres and Matías Viñas failed, and once again the local defender beat Rochet. Two or three goals by a defender are proof of the weakness of our ‘gunners’. In my opinion, the desire and courage that our team showed in the last 30 minutes made up for it the most. With a midfield that only tries to obstruct, does not create play, does not help the attackers, Moisés Caicedo appeared (“He came out of the hammock where he was resting,” said a friend with whom he watched the game). He began to move up the wing and combine with Pervis Estupiñán, who was also unnoticed, and this is where the best moments of the Tricolor happened.

If you ask me about the last play of the game, I will say I think it was a penalty. Referee Wilton Sampaio didn’t charge it and I won’t criticize him. So many times arbitrations have openly harmed our team and our clubs, that the fact that they once erred in our favor must be celebrated.

It is not true that the balance of this match can be described as “beautiful”, as the lady who was a guest on television said. It was a triumph, yes, and he should be applauded, but not exaggerate and shine a glare on the fans who normally follow the propagandists of the national team, who are not journalists in the noble sense of the word, but public relations focused on disproportion and fraud. “Ecuador added three valuable points,” exclaimed a commentator from a major television station. It didn’t add up: it barely erased the sentence handed down to him by the TAS for the shameful episode of the Byron Castillo case. We continue with zero units on the scale.

Young Kendry Páez’s lineup was the most believable and innovative thing in the game, but I’ll go against it again. I think he played a good role, but to say that Lionel Messi’s successor in world football is in the offing is a joke. Licking can harm you using an inflator. These comparisons can become a stigma, a heavy burden for Páez’s future. Please, Tri PR, let it grow, progress, reach as high as its conditions in the great competition! Do not fill the bag with stones. He is a great prospect and if he becomes like Messi, good for him.

And a final message to Félix Sánchez Baso: don’t get caught up in the process when it comes to calling. Kevin Rodríguez was called by Gustavo Alfaro while he was playing in Serie B. They gave him minutes in Qatar in 2022, and a few days later he was bought by Independiente del Valle, already as a team that played in the World Cup. You, Sánchez Bas, invited him again for the qualifications, and just a few days later he was transferred to Belgium. One gets the impression that, perhaps, they would use it for a juicy business, just as Alfaro might allow. Don’t let them say that you, like the Argentine, agreed to it. (OR)