The first final match between Independiente del Valle and Liga de Quito went unnoticed in Guayaquil. Basically, there was no interest among the fans of this city. I think that for sports journalists, for people who love football very much or for followers of the Pro League 2023 tournament, it was undoubtedly important to see that game. But there were no big emotions for the aforementioned meeting, broadly speaking.

Everything was opaque in the sense I mentioned at the beginning of this column. Without failing to recognize that these are the best teams in Ecuador, the match between Independiente and Liga did not have the level of attractiveness that can be created, for example, by a championship final between teams from two regions. The lack of interest was noticeable. Apart from the importance that this kind of competition always has for football in our country, the matter of perception or feeling of lack of enthusiasm among the citizens confirmed that most of the people were talking about other things, and not about the final.

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The final of the 2014 season was not between teams from two regions, like this 2023. But the one from nine years ago was the Astillero Classic! It is an immortal match, a competition with tradition. It’s something else, definitely. This kind of rivalry paralyzes Ecuador. It is that without having to face each other in the finals, but for another game in one term of the tournament, Barcelona SC and Emelec offer something different, there is a different expectation. And let’s not even talk about the final between the Canary Islands and Električar.

Guayas football, in decline in all aspects

But when he talked about the football conflict between the regions, my attitude is focused on what always creates an option of interest, and in the case of the 2023 campaign, it did not happen through the fault of the Guayaquil teams themselves.

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I imagine that in Quito and in the cities surrounding the capital of the Republic, where Liga Deportiva Universitaria has many followers, the first final match must have had a large crowd. However, what I also believe is that they will not increase their popularity by becoming champions or not. The white team has a ceiling and it has been shown since 2008, when they won the Copa Libertadores de América: Liga is not a popular team, nationally speaking.

But apart from all that, I want to point out that there is a serious contrast between what Liga de Quito and Independiente del Valle are doing to qualify for the final and the pride they have. They constantly show that they are doing well and that compared to the disappointments we suffer from the games of the Guayas national football team. This is worth pointing out.

The rest, such as measuring the importance and appeal of the first final game in Guayaquil or not, depends on the enthusiasm fans may have. In this sense, I must be very clear: in all the meetings I attended, in the various places I was in and in all the conversations with the press, no one put the first final match between Independiente del Valle and the Quito League, last Sunday. I suspect something similar will happen with the return (December 17). (OR)