‘I never thought of being a historical scorer for the Ecuadorian team,’ says Enner Valencia, after beating Agustín Delgado

“Agustin Believe Delgado was the best striker I could see in the National Team until someone else comes along and can overcome him. It was a colleague (at Emelec in 2009) who spoke to me a lot ”, were the words of Enner Valencia to highlight his admiration for the remembered gunner, who was key for Ecuador to qualify for the World Cups in South Korea and Japan 2002 and Germany 2006.

On October 7 of this year, Valencia scored a double in the Tricolor’s 3-0 victory over Bolivia for the Qatar 2022 qualifying rounds, which made it the top net-breaker in Ecuador with 33 touchdowns -since his debut in the 2013-, surpassing the record of 31 goals that Tin achieved between 1994 and 2006 with the national team.

In the breakdown of goals, Enner scored in 18 friendlies, 7 in the playoffs, 5 in Copa América and 3 in Brazil 2014.

Delgado’s stats are exceptional. He scored 16 for the fight for a World Cup quota, 6 in friendlies, 6 for America’s Cup and 3 in World Cups (1 in South Korea and Japan 2002 and 2 in Germany 2006). Path to the competition in 2002 he shared the scoring leadership with Argentine Hernán Crespo: both achieved 9.

“I always looked to make his moves to score in clubs and the National Team. I never thought of being a historic scorer for La Tri, this is step by step. I did not lose sleep (to beat the record against the Bolivians), what motivated me was to support the National Team “, highlighted the 31-year-old forward in a dialogue with the radio Diblú From Guayaquil.

“I have had teammates with a lot of experience, with a very good trajectory and I also try to share with the young boys that are in the National Team. I think the words of certain players who were also in the National Team should be measured a little, especially with the youngsters, that this is not a help for them ”, added Enner.

Regarding his change of position in La Tri for the last three duels he faced, the attacker revealed: “Just in the game against Bolivia (Gustavo Alfaro) told me about it, that if he had problems playing there (far left) and I told him not. In my club (Fenerbahce from Turkey) I have been doing it. The truth is, I have no problem playing in different positions on the offensive side ”.

He also highlighted: “In each talk (with those selected) we talk that we must be in a new World Cup. The idea is to stay there (in third place in the Qatar 2022 qualifying zone) ″.

On November 11, Ecuador, with 17 points in the qualifying rounds, will face Venezuela in Quito and on November 16 they will visit Santiago to collide with Chile. (D)