Former coach Otto Morcillo, considered one of the initiators of a new era of Ecuadorian soccer, died of cancer this Friday at the age of 67, according to family members.

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Morcillo died in a clinic in Guayaquil, and his departure caused a huge reaction of regret on the football field in the country, as well as in the academic world, since he was a teacher at the university “Luis Vargas Torres” in the coastal city of Esmeraldas, where he was from.

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One of his daughters explained to EFE that the strategist died of pancreatic cancer and that his remains were laid to rest in room La Bendiciones 3 of the cemetery. Gardens of hope, north of the city of Buenos Aires. His farewell is scheduled for this Saturday, January 28 at 3 p.m.

Morcillo stood out as an assistant to Montenegrin coach Dussan Drašković, who led the Ecuadorian team in the 1980s and is considered the initiator of the new image of Ecuadorian football.

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He graduated as a coach of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and after passing through several professional clubs, he became one of the best interpreters and expansionists of the methodology that Drašković applied as the coach of Ecuador from 1988 to 1993.

“Despite all the difficulties that the possibility of studying abroad presented for Ecuadorians in the 1980s, Otto Morcillo broke all expectations and graduated as a football coach in Argentina and left an important contribution to local football,” he told EFE coach Joaquín López.

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López, like Morcillo, became Drašković’s closest collaborator in the Ecuadorian football upswing.

Morcillo led the youth selections U-17, U-20 and U-23, and together with Drašković, he was also in the professional staff of the senior team.

The late Ecuadorian coach also successfully managed teams such as Atlético Green Cross, Manta Sporting Club, Esmeraldas Petrolero and Portoviejo League, but he was also part of the coaching staff of Emelec and other teams. (D)