The is the national team of
Ecuador and is governed by the
Federación Ecuatoriana De Fútbol . It was known in the past as one of the weakest teams in
CONMEBOL , but it has been on the rise for the past decade, making their first
World Cup qualification for the
2002 , and qualifying again for the
2006 World Cup . In 2002 a victory over
Croatia was not enough to get them into the second round of this World Cup. Without a doubt, Ecuador is the most improved member of Conmebol in the past years.
Ecuador was the undisputed revelation of
Qualifying For The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ in the South American zone. For a relatively small federation in one of the most difficult Confederations of the world, Ecuador's second place finish in the trying group was a counterpoint of joy to
Brazil's struggle -- the Ecuadorians finished one point ahead of the later world champions and second only to
Argentina . Top class players,
Agustin Delgado ,
Alex Aguinaga ,
Iván Kaviedes ,
Iván Hurtado and
Ulises De La Cruz lead the way, with Agustin "Tin" Delgado finishing co-top goal scorer with the
Argentine ,
Hernan Crespo with 9 goals.
Although they didn't make it past the first round, they were certainly no disgrace, and in their last match even beat the reigning bronze medallists,
Croatia , 1-0 through a trademark Edison Mendez mid-range rocket.
At the start of the last South American qualifiers,
Ecuador was in the 71st position in the
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings . Since then, they have climbed well into the 30s -- a movement that shows how their international standing has improved. The start of the last qualifying did not go well and four of their five losses came within their first eight matches of the long 18 match schedule. They put themselves in the reckoning for a spot at Asia's first finals with five consecutive victories -- including the historic victory over Brazil.
Not for the first time, Ecuador made a shaky start to their FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers. On this occasion, however, they have managed to bounce back and are again in contention for a qualifying place. Unfortunately, the side’s very poor showing at the Copa América in Peru led to the resignation of their respected manager, Hernán Darío Gómez.
With the departure of Bolillo, as he was affectionately known, the baton was passed to fellow
Colombian Luis Suárez . The new coach saw his side finish
2004 on a high after repeating their historic
2001 win against Brazil in Quito. A good omen for a similarly happy ending to this year’s qualifiers? The players and public certainly hope so.
They have the results to back up this claim. Most recently, Ecuador have picked up valuable points away in La Paz, Bolivia and
Peru in Lima, and need only a point to secure qualification for a second straight World Cup finals. In these qualifiers, Ecuador also had impressives displays against Brasil, defeating them through Edison Mendez, 1-0,
Colombia , 2-1 with Franklin Salas scoring the game winner, a Kaviedes inspired 2-0 win over
Chile , an easy 2-0 win over
Venezuela and a historic 5-2 win against
Paraguay in a game when Ecuador were down 2-0 in under 20 minutes. But Ecuador did not give up and showed how strong they are when their backs are up against the wall.
Antonio Valencia , a young talent getting his first competetive international, scored the first for his country with a long range effort at the 30 minute mark, which was poorly misjudged by the Paraguayan keeper, Justo Villar. Then in first half injury time,
Edwin Tenorio fed a marvelous ball to Mendez, which he held on to and while under heavy marking, took a 35 yard thunderous shot with a marvelous curve and beat Villar! This goal was one of the most impressive goals in these qualifiers.
In the second half, it took Ecuador just 3 minutes to take the lead. Tin Delgado laid off the ball for the ever present Mendez and "la Luz" made no misatke with another mid-range effort. With the ball crossing the line and hitting the back of the net, the 47000 plus at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa were in exstacy. But they would have more reason to celebrate just 5 minutes later. After a relentless attack by the Ecuadorians, a Justo Villar stop landed for Valencia, and yet again, took powerful a mid-range effort which took a deflection off a Paraguayan defender and into the back of the net. Ecuador finished off the day when
Franklin Salas was "brought down" by Sarabia and
Marlon Ayoví made no mistake with the spot kick, firing a powerful and unstopable effort in the top left corner.
With just a month away from the final 2 rounds, Ecuador look set to qualify again to the big dance and this time, will not only participate to "learn", but have higher aspirations. Ecuador have shown with the right attitude and dedication, that nothing is impossible and now is a side that demands respect and is highly considered the 3rd team in the South American region, on equal terms with the likes of Paraguay,
Uruguay and Colombia, and are capable against top international teams, as a recent friendly against
Italy ended in a 1-1 draw.
Their best finish in
Copa América was fourth in
1993 (they also finished fourth in the 'extra' South American Championship in
1959 ). The Ecuadorians have now qualified to the World Cup right behind Brazil and Argentina followed by Paraguay. They were drawn into Group A with Germany, Poland, and Costa Rica.
Ecuador has traditionally been regarded as one of the weakest South American sides, having failed to qualify for a World Cup prior to 2002. However, the country was never short of footballing talent.
They first participated in qualifying in the
1962 campaign but were well beaten by
Argentina over two games. However, the
1966 qualifying campaign provided Ecuador with a golden opportunity. They would be drawn against 1962 hosts and third-place finishers
Chile and a weakened
Colombia . The Ecuador side for the 1966 qualifiers contained stars such as Washington Muñoz,
Alberto Spencer , Carlos Raffo, Enrique Raymondi and Jorge Bolaños. They looked to have a foot in the 1966 World Cup before they faced Chile away in their final game and lost 3-1, forcing a play-off in Peru. The play-off was won 2-1 by Chile. Nevertheless, this would still be regarded as one of the finest teams Ecuador has produced to date.
Further runs in World Cup qualifying eluded Ecuador until the
1998 campaign, but they have since qualified for two successive World Cups.
