Ecuador, with Yaimar Medina’s duo, started the South American Olympic qualifiers last Saturday with a 3-0 victory against Colombia, thus contesting two places in Paris 2024. The Tricolori thus celebrated the 40th anniversary of their first victory in this competition. (also 3-0 over the northerners, 1984) and 20 years since the last celebration (3-2 against Bolivia, 2004).

The Group A match was played at the Brígido Iriarte Stadium in Caracas. Although it was tough, the Ecuadorian team took advantage of an early numerical advantage as left-back Jimer Fory was sent off in the 24th minute for a double booking.

U-23 Olympic Pre-Olympic Games: this is how the table of Group A stands with a draw between Venezuela and Bolivia

Colombian sports journalism in several of its most important print media lamented the beating suffered by Ecuador and highlighted, among other things, the dominance of the Tricolor and that the result could have been higher.

These are the results every time Ecuador has won in its U-23 Pre-Olympic debut in South America

El Tiempo: “It was an ugly loss. There was no happy debut for Colombia in the pre-Olympic tournament. It was a rather bitter, harrowing, worrying debut, with a 3-0 loss to Ecuador on the first day of Group A of the Pre-Olympic Games. Colombia started with enthusiasm, with dominance, but the whole game and strategy turned upside down after the exclusion (Jimer Fory), since then with ten players it was exposed to epic or tragedy. It was a tragedy. The choice went from proposal to resignation: wait, endure and see how Ecuador grew. “Colombia lost control of the ball, it was a team stunned by the sending off.”

Unforgettable debut! Ecuador defeated Colombia 3-0 in the U-23 Olympic qualifier in Venezuela

Week: “The role of the Colombian team in the pre-Olympic games; He danced and won (3-0) Ecuador. Although they had the best opportunities to open the scoring at the beginning of the match, the national team, especially in the second half, was outplayed by their neighbors and eventually lost, giving up important points in their quest to reach the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. The team played with 10 players from the 24th minute. , due to the exclusion of Jimer Fory.”

The viewer: “Victory of Ecuador! Colombia lost in its debut in the qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games. Ecuador did not forgive the Colombian national team and crushed them in the first game of the tournament. Colombia started the pre-Olympic games on the wrong foot. Ecuador dominated the game and used an extra player after Jimer Fory was sent off in the first half. There was not much emotion in the first half. Ecuador dominated the ball in the Colombian field and threatened the goal, which is defended by Sebastián Guerra. Colombia was not good in attack and had shortcomings in defense. She failed to overcome Ecuador, which spoiled the start of Colombia’s Olympic dream.”

Colombian: “Ecuador defeated Colombia 3-0, which left a bad image in the pre-Olympic debut. Colombian fans are already used to the fact that when they come to the tournament with high expectations, they are deflated from the start, and Venezuela’s debut at the Pre-Olympic Championships against Ecuador was no exception. They were losing 3-0, and could have been 4-0 if goalkeeper Sebastián Guerra didn’t save a penalty in the last action of the game. It is true that the team was left with ten men at the coffee when the game was played for an average of 25 minutes, and that was decided by the result. However, in football there is always that possibility and coach Héctor Cárdenas did not know how to deal with it very well.”

Messenger: “Ecuador 3, Colombia 0: A discouraging start. The under-23 national team lost and left a terrible image in its debut at the Pre-Olympic tournaments in Venezuela. The Colombian defeat could have been even more difficult if it wasn’t for the penalty that Sebastián Guerra saved in the last minute of the game. There was no individual revolt and no collective and tactical possibilities to mitigate the negative aspects of numerical inferiority. Ecuador always took the initiative in the game, controlled the ball and contributed to the glory of victory. Ours lacked order, aggressiveness, functioning and attacking ambitions.” (D)