Showing posts with label Ecuador national team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ecuador national team. Show all posts
Cesár González golazo contra Ecuador, Copa América 2011
On 9 July 2011 Cesár González scored one of the best goals of the 2011 Copa América tournament to give Venezuela a 1-0 win against Ecuador and move themselves to the top of group B and within touching distance of qualifying for the knockout stage. The result can be seen as further evidence that Venezuela have finally shed their traditional status as the whipping boys of South American football.
The quality of the strike was reminiscent of another stunning long range strike for Venezuela in a 1-0 win against Ecuador.
Group B Copa América 2011
Match reports and highlights from Group B of the 2011 Copa América tournament.
Standings
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 5 |
 Venezuela | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 |
 Paraguay | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
 Ecuador | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -13 | 1 |
Brazil, Venezuela and Paraguay progress to the quarter-final.
Results
| 03-07-11 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 0-0 | Venezuela |
| 03-07-11 | ||
| Paraguay | 0-0 | Ecuador |
| 09-07-11 | ||
| Brazil | 2-2 | Paraguay |
| 09-07-11 | ||
| Venezuela | 1-0 | Ecuador |
| 13-07-11 | ||
| Paraguay | 3-3 | Venezuela |
| 13-07-11 | ||
| Brazil | 4-2 | Ecuador |
Match reports
Venezuela held out for a 0-0 draw against Brazil in the opening game of group B, the first time they have ever avoided defeat against Brazil in the history of Copa América. Brazil put on a disappointing display and in the end Venezuela deserved their point.
The goaldrought at the beginning of the tournament continued in the next game with Paraguay and Ecuador settling for a 0-0 draw. Both sides looked good in patches but neither of them could find a goal, Ecuador looked short on composure every time they came close and Paraguay were thwarted by solid goalkeeping from Marcelo Elizaga on the few occasions that they managed shots on target. The result blew Group B wide open with a four way stalemate after the first round of games.
In the second round of games Brazil scored a late equaliser to pick up a 2-2 draw with Paraguay that their performance didn't really deserve bringing back memories of the Copa América final in 2004. Jadson gave Brazil a first half lead with one of the goals of the tournament so far but Paraguay fought back in the second half to earn the advantage that they deserved with goals from Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Valdéz but Brazil's second half substitute Fred bagged the equaliser in the dying moments of the game.
Venezuela bagged on of the shock results of the tournament with a 1-0 win against Ecuador to go to the top of the group and put themselves on the brink of qualification for the second round. Venezuela finally seem to be shedding their role as the traditional whipping boys of South American football, they completely dominated the game and Cesár González bagged the winner with a wonderful long range strike in the 62nd minute.
Following Costa Rica's defeat to Argentina, Venezuela knew that they had already qualified to the knock out stages of Copa América for the first time ever on foreign soil however they still put on an entertaining display in their final group game against Paraguay, who needed at last a draw to progress to the next round. José Salomón Rincon put Venezuela ahead after only five minutes but Paraguay worked their way back into the game, scoring three goals to establish a two goal lead with only minutes remaining, however Venezuela fought back with two injury time goals to tie the game 3-3 and keep their unbeaten record.
Brazil secured to spot in the group with a 4-2 win against Ecuador who were eliminated. Brazil twice established the lead through Alexandre Pato and then Neymar only to see Felipe Caicedo equalised both goals. Pato and Neymar scored another goal apiece to secure the two goal victory they needed in order to win the group and ensure that the game finished with six goals neatly divided between three forwards.
Cosas locas: Bryan Carrasco autoaggression
On 13 February 2011 Ecuador U-20 and Chile U-20 faced each other in the last round of fixtures in the Sudamericano sub-20 championship. The game would determine which of the two teams would qualify to play in the Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.
Ecuador won the game 1-0 and qualified but the most famous incident in the game was not Dixon Arroyo's spectacular long range strike to win the game, it was this bizarre incident where Chilean defender Bryan Carrasco hit himself in the face with Edson Montaño's hand in order to try and get the Ecuadorian sent off.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Golazo: Dixon Arroyo vs Chile U-20, 2011 Sudamericano sub-20
In the final round of games of the 2011 South American Youth Championships Ecuador U-20 faced Chile U-20 in a 4th place decider to determine which side would qualify to play in the 2011 World Youth Championships.
Chile needed to win to leapfrog Ecuador into 4th place however Ecuador secured qualification with a 1-0 win after this magnificent long range strike from Dixon Arroyo.
What ever happened to? Ulises de La Cruz
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| De La Cruz became the first Ecuadorian to join a Scottish Premier League side when he joined Hibs in 2001 |
In June 2001 Scottish side Hibernian signed Ecuadorian international defender Ulises de La Cruz from Ecuadorian side Barcelona Sporting Club. This transfer made Hibs manager Alex McLiesh the first manager to sign an Ecuadorian player for a Scottish Premier league club, he then signed De La Cruz's international team mate and international journeyman Eduardo Hurtado.
De La Cruz was born 8 February 1974 in the village of Piquiucho in the Valle del Chota. He made his professional debut for Deportivo Quito in 1991. He also had stints with Liga de Quito, Barcelona Sporting Club and Aucas in his homeland and with Cruzeiro in Brazil. He made his international debut in a 3-0 defeat to Japan on 28 May 1995. Before his move to the UK he had featured in three Copa América squads in 1997, 1999 and 2001.
One of the highlights of his career was netting a hat-trick in an incredible 7-0 win against Emelec in the 1998 Ecuadorian championship final.
De La Cruz settled into the first team, he scored both goals in the Edinburgh derby in October 2001 including the opening goal after only 36 seconds. The game ended 2-1 to Hibs and De La Cruz won praise from his manager, the fans and the press for his performances.
In December 2001 McLeish, the manager who had signed De La Cruz was poached by Rangers. McLeish's replacement Bobby Williamson sent Hurtado back to Ecuador and without his international team mate or the manager that signed him it became clear that De La Cruz's time with the club was limited.
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| De la Cruz playing for Aston Villa against Manchester united in 2004. |
In 2002 De La Cruz established the British-Ecuadorian charity Friends of FundeCruz to which he donates around 10% of his wages to help fund children's nutrition, health, education and sports development. So far the charity has helped to build a water treatment plant, a medical centre and a community sports centre in his local province of Valle del Chota. He is good friends with Southampton flop Agustín Delgado who also has a charity with similar objectives in the same province.
Following his success at the World Cup he was signed by Premier League side Aston Villa for a fee of £1.5 million. Over the next four seasons he made 109 appearances for the club and scored two goals, his first came in a 2-0 win against Charlton Athletic in September 2002 and the other came in a 3-0 win against Luton Town in a League Cup tie on 2 October 2002. During his time at Villa he played in his 4th Copa América tournament. De La Cruz eventually left the Villa on a free transfer in 2006 after falling out with manager David O'Leary.
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| Ulises playing against Poland in the 2006 World Cup. |
His next club were newly promoted Reading who were playing their first season ever in the English top flight. De la Cruz featured as an occasional player for the team that not only survived in the top flight but finished in 8th position only one point shy of a UEFA Cup place. The following season Reading were relegated and De La Cruz was released from his contract. He made a total of 24 appearances for the Royals in all competition and bagged one goal for the club in a 3-1 win against Sheffield United.
During his time at Reading he became their first ever representative at the Copa América, his fifth outing in the tournament and his last of seven major international tournaments for his country. In 2007 Ulises came up against young Brazilian sensation Robinho, in a World Cup qualifier. He cannot be blamed for failing to deal with the situation given Robinho's brilliance before his slump in form at Manchester City.
Between 2008 and 2009 he spent time on trial with a number of different clubs, he spent some time at Watford where he played 45 minutes of a friendly against Brentford. He also had trials at Coventry City.
Between 2008 and 2009 he spent time on trial with a number of different clubs, he spent some time at Watford where he played 45 minutes of a friendly against Brentford. He also had trials at Coventry City.
In March 2009 he was given the opportunity to join up with the man who brought him to the UK back in 2001 when Birmingham manager Alex McLeish offered him a temporary contract. De La Cruz played only one game for Aston Villa's fierce local rivals, he was offered a 1 year contract buit decided to return to Ecuador to play regular first team football and improve his chances of returning to the Ecuador national team.
All in all Ulises de La Cruz played 8 seasons in British football making 164 appearances in all competitions and scoring 4 goals. He will never be remembered as one of the great exciting flair players but he was one of the very few South American players to last the course in British football. Many many exiting and highly talented South Americans have been beaten into submission by football in the UK, yet De La Cruz had what it takes to survive our game for 8 years.
After being released by Birmingham De La Cruz joined up with Liga de Quito; the most powerful team back in Ecuador. In July that year he was part of the team that annihilated Brazilian side Internacional 4-0 on aggregate in the final of the Recopa Sudamericana 2009 (South American Super Cup).
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| In 2009 De La Cruz was part of the Liga de Quito side that won the Copa Sudamericana in 2009. |
De La Cruz had been frozen out of the Ecuador national team back in 2008 on 99 caps but he was recalled to the team in May 2010 for a couple of pre-World Cup warm up matches for Mexico and South Korea to put himself on the exclusive list of players with 100+ caps for their countries. With 101 caps and 6 goals he is currently Ecuador's 3rd most capped player behind Eduardo Hurtado and Alex Aguinaga.
In September 2008 he won his third major international title with Liga de Quito, he played in the 2nd leg of the Recopa Sudamericana in which they beat Alex Sabella's Estudiantes side which was captained by Juan Sebastián Verón to become only the 3rd side ever to retain the title after São Paulo of Brazil and Boca Juniors of Argentina.
De La Cruz still plays for Liga de Quito who are currently at the semi-final stage of their defence of their Copa Sudamericana championship and top of the Ecuadorian league. He continues his charity work and is a UNICEF ambassador. However he may be remembered back in the UK he will be rightly regarded as one of Ecuador's finest players, who was part of the most successful generation of Ecuadorian footballers ever to grace the game.
Part of the What ever happened to? series.
Golazo: Agustín Delgado, Ecuador vs Brazil, World Cup qualifier 2001.
On 28 March 2001: Ecuador played Brazil in Quito in what was to become a historic World Cup qualifier. Iván Kaviedes received the ball from Alex Aguinaga and ran at the Brazilian defence taking the ball past three defenders, his cross/shot was turned into the net by Agustín Delgado to give Ecuador a famous 1-0 win, their first ever triumph against the Brazilians. Later that year Kaviedes scored his most famous goal to give Ecuador the draw they needed against Uruguay to earn their first appearance at a World Cup finals in 2002.
What ever happened to? Iván Kaviedes
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| Kaviedes at Crystal palace in 2004. |
By this point Kaviedes was already an international journeyman footballer having played professional football in Ecuador (Emelec, Deportivo Quito & Barcelona SC), Italy (Perugia), Spain (Celta Vigo & Valladolid), Mexico (Puebla) and Portugal (FC Porto) with varying degrees of success. At the time he was a regular first team player for the Ecuador national team and a very popular player in his homeland having scored the goal that secured Ecuador's first ever qualification for the World Cup in a 1-1 draw with Uruguay in November 2001.
He was highly regarded as a finisher, he scored 43 goals in one season for his first club Emelec, the goal of the season for 2000-01 in Spain with a bicycle kick against Barcelona for Valladolid and this excellent finish for Mexican side Puebla. Another notable moment in his career was this dribble and pass to set up Agustín Delgado's goal in a famous 1-0 win against Brazil in 2001.
Upon his arrival in south London manager Ian Dowie said "He is an icon in Ecuadorian football and an outstanding footballer. He's come on trial and shown good motivation in training, he's a breath of fresh air, a great finisher and a free-kick specialist."
Despite Dowie's positive words Kaviedes barely featured for Palace despite the fact that they were embroiled in a relegation battle and struggling to score goals. He made six competitive appearances for the club, he made his debut in a 1-3 defeat against Everton. His only start came in a game against Chelsea and the remaining four appearances all came as a second half substitute. It can be argued that he was unfortunate that Dowie stuck to a 4-5-1 formation and team mate Andy Johnson hit a rich vein of form, scoring 21 goals in the season and making himself virtually undroppable. In January 2005 he was allowed to leave the club after his contract was terminated by mutual consent, despite all of Johnson's goals Palace were relegated at the end of the season.
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| Kaviedes spiderman celebration at the 2006 World Cup. |
Later that year he joined Argentine Primera División side Argentinos Juniors where he played with limited success, but he was still selected for the 2006 World Cup squad. He famously put on a spiderman mask after scoring against Costa Rica in the World Cup as a tribute to former team mate Otilino "Spiderman" Tenorio who had died in a car crash in 2005.
After the World Cup he had another brief stint with Barcelona Sporting Club and in 2007 he joined El Nacional where he scored 14 goals in 34 league appearances. This stint was the last time that he managed to finish a season without being sacked by his club.
His last cap for Ecuador came in November 2007 in a 5-1 win against Peru in a World Cup qualifier. He made a total of 53 appearances for his country scoring 16 goals, making him Ecuador's joint 4th highest goal scorer behind Agustín Delgado, Eduardo Hurtado and Alex Aguinaga.
In 2008 he joined Liga de Quito but after only two games he quit the club after a disagreement about a debt he said wasn't his. In 2009 he spent time in a drugs rehabilitation clinic and after recovering he trained with LDU Portoviejo but was not ever officially part of their squad.
After two years out of the game he returned to action for Macará in 2010, but once again he was sacked. The official reason was that he kept missing training and had other disciplinary issues. The manager of the club said that Iván always said that he wishes people would listen to him, but lots of people did listen to him and when they said things that he didn't want to hear he got angry with them.
This version of events is disputed on his official website which claims that he was forced out of the club against the manager's wishes by a group of players that have influence with the directors.
Whatever the case, it is clear that Kaviedes' career has been in serious decline since the 2006 World Cup. He is still remarkably popular amongst Ecuadorians, which is unsurprising given the flair with which he used to score goals and his place in the history of Ecuadorian football is safe thanks to his goal to earn Ecuador their first ever World Cup appearance.
It is hard to say why he failed at Crystal Palace since he was barely given an opportunity to play for the club, but like Southampton flop and international strike partner Agustín Delgado it is clear from his achievements before and after his short spell in English football that he was a quality player.
Part of the What ever happened to? series.
What ever happened to? Agustín Delgado
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| Delgado celebrating his goal at Anfield, which came on his full debut for Southampton almost a whole year after he joined the club. |
Delgado who was born in Chota, Ecuador on December 23 1974 had made his professional debut for Espoli in 1991, he also played for Barcelona Sporting Club and El Nacional in his homeland before moving to Mexico in 1998, he had a short stint with Cruz Azul before joining Necaxa where he played between 1998 and 2001.
Delgado struggled for fitness and had to wait until the13th of January 2002 to make his debut for the club coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United. He had to wait until November 2002 until he got his first chance to start a game, in a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in which he scored one of his two goals for the club.
Delgado was never given a regular place in the first team, starting only two league games for the club in nearly 3 years. He played a total of 15 games for the club in all competitions, mostly as a substitute, scoring 2 goals. Delgado openly blamed manager Gordon Strachan for his lack of playing opportunities, saying that Strachan had a personal problem with him.
Strachan's comments give some credence to this interpretation, he publicly dismissed Delgado at a press conference, saying "I've got more important things to think about. I've got a yoghurt to finish by today, the expiry date is today. That can be my priority rather than Agustin Delgado." Delgado is not the only foreign player to have claim that Strachan has personal issues with his players, recently French Middlesbrough midfielder Didier Digard claimed that he was frozen out of the squad by Strachan who blamed the foreigners for the club's plight and filled the team with familiar but inferior Scottish players.
On the other hand Delgado did himself no favours with the club by aggravating an ankle injury by playing through the pain to star for Ecuador in their first World Cup in 2002, in which he scored his nations first ever World Cup goal. He also went AWOL in South America several times during his time at the club. When Delgado eventually walked out of Southampton for the last time, it was not without more harsh words from Strachan and threats from Southampton that they would prevent him playing for any other club until his Southampton contract had expired.
During his time in England 'Tin established the Agustín Delgado foundation which has provided education, healthcare and sports facilities for poor children in Ecuador for the last eight years.
Delgado briefly returned to Ecuador to play for Aucas in 2004 where he reacquainted himself with regular first team football before going back to Mexico where he was part of the Pumas squad that won the Mexican league in 2005.
On 4 June 2005 he scored his 27th goal for Ecuador in a 2-0 win against Argentina, surpassing Eduardo Hurtado's previous record of 26 to become the all time highest goalscorer for his country.
Later that year he returned to Ecuador to play for Barcelona Sporting Club of Guayaquil where he formed a strike partnership with another iconic Ecuadorian player; Crystal Palace flop Iván Kaviedes. It was not a successful time for 'Tin Delgado, he didn't score as many goals as expected and Barcelona continued their long wait for another league title.
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| 'Tin Delgado scores against Poland in the 2006 World Cup. |
In 2006 he joined LDU Quito, where he was involved in a mass brawl in a game against his former club Barcelona which resulted in him being given a one year suspension from the game. The suspension was eventually lifted after protesters in his home province blocked the Pan-American highway and the ruling was overturned after a congressional hearing. Delgado apologised for his actions and publicly vowed to forswear violence as a consequence.
In 2007 he helped Liga de Quito to win the Ecuadorian league championship and in 2008 he was part of the squad that became the first Ecuadorian side to win the Copa Libertadores, although he did not play in the extraordinary final against Fluminense. He was described by Liga fans as the perfect super substitute.
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| Delgado playing for LDU Quito back in Ecuador. |
Delgado's time on the south coast can be seen from two different perspectives, Southampton fans will fondly remember his only league goal, the decisive one in a 3-2 win against Arsenal and some die hard fans will remember his goal against Liverpool at Anfield in the League Cup too. Maybe he could be given the benefit of the doubt as a player, the case could be made that he was never given the game time to properly adjust to English football.
Alternatively he could be seen as a player that gave his international career much more attention than the fortunes of the club that was paying his wages, for whom he barely started a game, fell out with his manager and went AWOL after international duty too many times.
Whatever is said about him, he had a lot of success before he arrived at Southampton, and he experienced more success after he left the club, he is a record breaking player for his country, an iconic player to Ecuadorian football fans and nobody could complain about the fact that he has spent his time and money on helping underprivileged children over the last 8 years.
See also
- Agustín Delgado tribute video
- Agustin Delgado by Marcela Mora y Araujo in the Guardian
Golazo: José Manuel Rey Ecuador vs Venezuela, WCQ 2007 - Monster free kick
13 October 2007. José Manuel Rey, (Venezuela's most capped player) lined up a free kick against Ecuador in the high altitude venue of Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, in the first round of the gruelling South American qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup.
Judging by his enormous run up, it seemed like the former Dundee FC player was going to have a crack at goal, surely not from that far out? But he did, unleashing an absolutely blistering shot and when the ball hit the net the stadium fell into stunned silence apart from a tiny pocket of travelling Venezuela fans.
Venezuela held on to record their first ever win against Ecuador in Quito and got their World Cup qualification campaign off to an unexpectedly good start. The traditional whipping boys of South America eventually finished 8th out of the 10 teams, but only 2 points behind the Uruguay team that made it all the way to the World Cup semi-finals.
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