Comfortable victory for Ecuador against the African Eagles. Domínguez earned his salary in the first half with four saving stops. bad start of Joseph Peseiro on the Nigerian bench, racking up their second straight loss. The Tricolor leaves good sensations in attack, but in defense it leaves a lot to polish.
Ecuador began its North American tour with the doubt of seeing what would happen to its place in the World Cup after the scandal that occurred over Byron Castillo. La Tri is exposed to a harsh sanction, losing its place in the World Cup. However, what Alfaro wanted to see was his style of play, with Estupiñán as a great figure for the Tricolor.
The game began by facing the Tri in the early stages. Estupiñan barely took three minutes to appear to open the Red Bull Arena locker. The Eagles seemed to be out of touch, with defensive errors uncommon for elite football. The Nigerian defense was completely off, leaving plenty of room for the contras to build. Of that fragility it would not take long for Alfaro to use it to his advantage, the placement of Cifuentes and Caicedo being key on the flyers, arriving in second line to the attack. Mena had the second in his boot after a poisoned right hand that Uzoho took to a corner with a changed hand.
The Nigerian goalkeeper began to intimidate his teammates, asking for more head and touch. The results would not take long to see, with a Nigeria that seemed different. In the last bars of the first half, the Eagles put Ecuador almost in their area. The tri did not know what to do to go on the counterattack, with a huge Domínguez stopping the African attack. First by hand changed and then almost saving it on the line, the Tri goalkeeper earned his salary on American soil.
The Red Bull Arena was dyed with the colors of the Tri, encouraging his boys in a foreign land against a rival who a priori felt inferior. With the second half underway, the Africans made things very difficult for Alfaro’s men. the input of Byron Castillo It was anything but decisive. The side came from the great controversy, so he needed a good game to try to change the opinion of his compatriots. The game could not have gone worse for the side. With their entrance, the Africans found an out and back lane on the left. The errors in Castillo’s passes served the Nigerians to take advantage of the counterattack. The clearest one had to be taken by Estupiñán almost in the goal of death.
The final minutes stopped the heart of the stands, fearful that any inmate of the Eagles would fall like a jug of cold water. However, excitement pulsed in the Uzoho area. The Nigerian goalkeeper was essential to avoid the distance, taking a low shot from Plata with a changed hand. Estrada, who was walking there like someone who does not go with the thing, could not take advantage of the rejection, sending it to a rugby goal. The defeated goalkeeper and the winger without knowing how to define. If the wet gunpowder affected the strikers, Domínguez’s last mistake was the last act of the match’s Greek comedy. The goalkeeper, fundamental until that moment, was guilty of trusting a ball. Instead of blocking him, he let him bounce to go for a corner, without seeing how a Nigerian player came from the second row. At the last moment he had to remove his glove to send the ball to a corner.
Ecuador won against a rival that failed to qualify for the World Cup, but leaves many doubts ahead of November. Alfaro has a lot of work to polish. If an error from this afternoon happens against a power, the elimination of the Tri is almost assured. Ecuador wins, but with doubts.
