With a 2-1 win over Uruguay last Tuesday, during the second leg of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the national team paid the fine imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS, acronym in French) on the Ecuadorian Football Association for playing in several pre-World Cup matches before Byron Castilla (three points deducted from the ongoing qualification process).

For now, the Tricolore’s task of stockpiling units will begin on the third day, away to weak Bolivia, in La Paz. However, the FEF is waiting for the result of the appeal filed with the Swiss Federal Court, which requests the annulment of the mentioned sanction (this judicial body will analyze, among other elements, the arbitration ruling of the CAS in which that entity explains its motives. The document emphasizes that “the audio recording of part of the player’s interview -Castilla- with Colonel Jaime Jara -spread Daily mail– it is not only allowed, but also reliable (…); “The panel considers that the audio recording is admissible as evidence in this proceeding.” In the aforementioned recording, according to TAS, Castillo “admitted that he was not born in Ecuador”).

Criticism of Kevin Rodríguez’s presence in the Tricolor ‘is a lack of respect’, says Santiago Morales. ‘It is against the intelligence of the professional staff of the Ecuadorian national team’

And although the date of the number two duel of the Conmebol representatives seeking their ticket to the World Cup 2026 has already ended, and the next one will start in the second week of next October, the debate remains in effect in the Ecuadorian sports media: Why was Kevin Rodríguez invited to the Tricolor?

Kevin Rodríguez ‘won the lottery’ again! From being traded to Independiente del Valle to being called up for the playoffs. He previously went to the 2022 World Cup after a 27-minute ‘process’

Don’t question anything

Rodríguez won the lottery again. Despite being a substitute at Independiente del Valle, Félix Sánchez Bas called him up to the squad that faced Argentina and Uruguay. Before, personified in coach Gustavo Alfaro, luck appeared to Imbabureño when he was taken to Qatar in 2022 after a lightning ‘process’ of only 27 minutes in the national team.

“Everyone says he’s a crack, but no one says if he has discipline”, is the criticism of Carlos Tenorio, the former Ecuadorian striker, addressed to Gonzalo Plata

Controversy persists as Rodríguez was less than discreet against the Albiceleste and Charrúas. Even the apparent suggestion or call of Santiago Morales, the manager of Independiente, to accept without question the criteria of Alfaro and Sánchez Bas regarding Kevin Rodríguez had no effect.

The Ecuador national team and the next opponent: Bolivia, a disaster that vegetates in the qualifications

For Morales, those who do not subscribe to the official position present criticism that “goes very much against the intelligence and respect that these good (technical) professionals can have in their work for the national team.” The manager who, last May as the president of the Spanish Numancia, was one of the people responsible for the ‘descent into hell’ of the fourth football in that country, the club that was bought by the AFNA institution, announced last Friday.

And the shooter Miguel Parrales?

Enner Valencia has been Ecuador’s top scorer for a long time. The scoring efficiency shown in the Turkish Fenerbahce was also confirmed at the 2022 World Cup with three goals in the same number of matches. He was named the striker of the Turkish Super League for the 2022-2023 season, and today he is the figurehead of Inter Porto Alegre’s attack. But he is alone in the Tricolor.

Michael Estrada has completely lost his way (he has not scored a goal since October 2, 2022 and is currently a substitute for CSKA, from Bulgaria). Despite Inter Miami’s recent wake-up call in the MLS, Leonardo Campana will have to wait for a chance with the national team (he was a deep sleeper in his minor steps through England, Portugal and Switzerland after being the biggest net breaker for South American youth in 2019).

Gonzalo Plata, Anderson Julio, Romario Ibarra and Jhojan Julio have no goals. And Jordy Caicedo, the author of 32 in Europe, with CSKA, between January 2021 and June 2022, did not work on a single call-up for Tri. Sánchez Bas did not consider Miguel Parrales, the top scorer of the 2023 Pro League with 15 goals for Guayaquil City. What the Manabi striker did has great merit for him to shine in a team that is difficult to attack. Without any explanation for this absence, the Spaniard preferred Rodríguez.

‘Series B syndrome’

The announcement of the 23-year-old striker’s move to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, who are eighth among 16 teams in the Belgian first division, brings the controversial Rodríguez to Europe for the first time, although he did not start with Valle’s team in 2023 and with a low number of goals.

He played for Ecuador in the 2022 World Cup as a Serie B footballer. In certain ways, mainly due to his poor performances in the country’s main football league and little he showed in the national team – apart from being sold to the Old Continent in a league in which he had not yet made his debut – there are sporting qualities that still characterize Rodríguez as element B. Because of this, as well as his presence in Qatar, he is currently rarely called up to the Tricolor.

Ten points about it