The reaction of several major newspapers in South America is similar when it comes to criticizing the level of the boring game that saw the teams of Venezuela and Ecuador draw 0-0 on Thursday night at the Estadio Monumental in Maturín, in the fifth round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The Llaneros are “satisfied” point at home, and the Tricolori were seen as a team that entered the field with the motto not to lose.

Nicolás Córdova, interim coach of Chile for the meeting with Ecuador in the South American qualifiers

With their limited attacking power, Sánchez’s Ecuador could not score for the second consecutive game before the World Cup (they have four goals in five games), they collided with a conformist Vinotinto who did not show the ambition that was evident in the double programming against Brazil (1-1) and Chile (3-0). The result was one ugly, low game played by careless players.

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This was commented on in the Conmebol region on equality in white.

The viewer (Bogotá): “Without goals or emotions! Venezuela tied with Ecuador in the qualifiers. Ecuador halted Venezuela’s momentum in South American qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a 0-0 draw in Maturín on Thursday. shortly after the start of the meeting, silence. Venezuela got scared early. José Cifuentes sent the ball into the penalty area after a corner kick, but Willian Pacho canceled the action by millimeter offside, with the intervention of the video referee.

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Clarion (Buenos Aires): “Venezuela and Ecuador did not take advantage of each other and the point left everyone happy. Vinotinto, Argentine coach Fernando Batista showed his best performance in the first half, but he was never able to break through the defense of the Ecuadorian team of Spanish colleague Félix Sánchez Bas. With this result, Venezuela maintains its dream of qualifying for its first World Cup, as it finished second with 8 points, three more than Ecuador.”

Earth (Montevideo): Venezuela 0, Ecuador 0: Vinotinto added another valuable point and is at the top of the table. Although they did not manage to transfer their dominance in the game to the scoreboard, they reached eight points in the standings ahead of the World Cup 2026. The match started in favor of the Tricolors, who after 5 minutes seemed to take the lead over Cifuentes. However, the goal was disallowed by VAR after review. From then on, the dominance belonged to the team led by Fernando Batista, who just lacked the efficiency to turn that dominance into a result.”

the third (Santiago): “Venezuela and Ecuador drew goalless in an opaque match. La Vinotinto failed to confirm what they have done in their last games and saved only one point against a team that was more concerned not to lose than to win. Venezuela entered the match against Ecuador with wide favoritism. Their draw in Brazil and win against Chile put them above La Tri in the previous analysis. Neither of the two teams created any danger. Everything was played in the middle of the field and although the visit was still bigger, it did not maintain that dominance in the opponent’s area. They both seemed to like equality and didn’t want to risk the point they were getting.”

Republic (Lima): “A lot of faith, no goals.” Although Venezuela was worse compared to the game against Chile, El Tri, for their part, did not know how to create many scoring opportunities, and despite having offensive players who were very present in their clubs, they did not manage to open the scoring. either, leaving a goalless draw that proved to be an acceptable deal for both teams. Neither Vinotinto nor Tri were able to dominate in attack and this led to a game with several clear goal situations.”

Duty (Santa Cruz de la Sierra): “Venezuela could not play at home against Ecuador in Maturín. The clash between Vinotint and Tricolor ended without a goal. Venezuela lost the chance to continue their climb, while Ecuador added a valuable point. Despite dropping the tie, Venezuela – the only South American nation never to have played at the World Cup – reached eight points from five games, equaling their best pre-World Cup start, achieved en route to Brazil 2014. Ecuador remains on five points.

Universal (Caracas): “Team Vinotinto drew 0-0 against Ecuador at the Estadio Monumental in Maturín and could not close the year with a home win in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Those led by Fernando Bocha Batista sealed their first tie in local status for the World Cup. “Venezuela and Ecuador offered a very close match in the middle of the pitch, with passages of dominance from both teams, but without many dangerous chances towards the opponents’ goals.” (D)