0-0: Ecuador remains without a goal at the gates of the World Cup

Ecuador could not pass the scoreless draw against Iraq in the friendly played this Saturday at the Cívitas Metropolitano in Madrid and thus evidenced its lack of goals, even with Gonzalo Plata missing a penalty at the last moment, since he has only achieved two goals in the last six preparation matches for a World Cup in Qatar that they will open against the host on Sunday 20 and to which they still arrive with the doubt of whether there will be a Byron Castillo who left the field due to injury after 36 minutes of the match.

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As expected, Ecuador dominated the match from the beginning. They had the ball without much opposition from an Iraqi team that, although they committed fewer fouls in the first half -six to the 13 of the South American team-, they did so more harshly.

So much so that in minute 35 Byron Castillo had to leave the pitch. The winger was a starter after being the protagonist in recent months due to the claims of Peru and Chile about his place of birth -they claimed it was Colombia and not Ecuador-, with the confirmation this Tuesday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) of that Ecuador could play in Qatar 2022 and the declarations in the last hours of the Ecuadorian ambassador in Qatar that he was not going to be part of the final list that the coach Gustavo Alfaro will announce on Monday.

Byron Castillo injury

Active in attack, with the whole band for him, playing right back, but his momentum soon ended. A hard tackle by Alai Hussain with both legs down, like a pincer, caused Byron Castillo’s left foot to get stuck and, after being treated by the doctors for several minutes, he had to leave the pitch with an obvious limp.

Just three minutes later Félix Torres also came close to leaving the game after another tough tackle, but was ultimately left in a scare. Iraq wanted to counter Ecuador’s quality superiority with hard play and the ‘tri’ got stuck.

iraqi toughness

Goalkeeper Jalal Hassan Hachim stopped Ecuador’s first big chance with a strong first-time shot from outside the box by Diego Palacios in the 11th minute and seven minutes later a poor start of his, unable to catch the ball, came close to scoring the goal. 1-0.

Without major chances, although there was an increase in tension due to the entrances of the Iraqi players, the game went on until the 64th minute when Gonzalo Plata, one of the stars of Ecuador, had the initial goal in his boots, but his shot with the left foot was cleared by the rival goalkeeper.

In the 71st minute Kevin Angulo also tried his luck with a long shot that went over the crossbar. Ecuador, who finished with 73% possession, continued to try to overcome the poor dynamics in front of goal that they were going through, trying several times with lateral crosses, but to no avail.

Silver misses a penalty

Not even a penalty in the last moment of the match could give Ecuador a joy. Gonzalo Plata, a Valladolid player, took responsibility for the penalty after the referee signaled a hand inside the area, but goalkeeper Hachim guessed the side of the shot, to his right, and frustrated a ‘tri’ that caressed the goal that resists so much.

In the absence of Gustavo Alfaro communicating the final list for Qatar 2022 next Monday, one day before traveling to Doha, where the rest of its great figures will already be, the ‘tri’ closes its last friendly preparation adding 270 minutes without celebrating a goal.