Ecuador: the path to seal the ticket to the World Cup for Qatar begins by playing against Brazil

A few days before the end of the South American tie, the Ecuadorian team must overcome four litmus tests against Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Argentina to collect the four points that will allow them to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Fourteen days remain for the first test against the absolute leader and first classified in the World Cup, Brazil, and most of those selected are in full preseason, disconnected from the rhythm of competition and others just joining new teams.

However, the coach of the Tricolor, the Argentinian Gustavo Alfaro, and his players have shown great ability to get ahead in the face of any adversity for the team, which started and remains in the qualifying zone, with 23 points.

Among the novelties against Brazil, the team’s all-time top scorer, with 33 goals, Enner Valencia, has recovered from injury, but he will miss defender Byron Castillo, who is suspended, while Jeremy Sarmiento is recovering from surgery.

Against Brazil, anything can happen in Quito, from Tite’s team confirming its hierarchy or the intrepid members of the local team once again showing the level they had at home against Uruguay (4-2) and Colombia (6-1), and in away matches against Colombians, with a goalless draw, and Chileans (0-2).

From the first games of the tie in 2020, Alfaro and his team overcame difficulties and showed solvency on the continent as a team that has been putting together and responding to any challenge on the fly.

In 2021, the tricolor coach and the directors of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) made mistakes such as believing that any player could win games and they lost to Peru (1-2) and drew (0-0) against Chile, in Quito , in addition to losing to Venezuela 1-2 in Caracas.

Those lessons made it clear to Alfaro and the directors that soccer is to be played, but that soccer is not played.

The history of confrontations between Ecuadorians and Brazilians is completely favorable for the Canarinha, but as every rule has its exception, Ecuador already knows how to beat it in Quito.

To also strengthen that there is no impossibility, in the last game of last year they historically won 0-2 against Chile, with an outstanding performance by their new players, who feed the hope of a good performance against Brazil, for after immediately think about the match against Peru in Lima.

While Brazil gave this Thursday the list of its summoned, nothing is known about that of Ecuador, since Alfaro keeps the call until the last moment.

With certainty, the coach has defined the payroll and the teams that will face Brazil in the Ecuadorian capital and five days later Peru, in Lima. (D)