Moisés Caicedo captains Ecuador in critical 2-1 win over Germany
· Yahoo Sports
Ecuador’s World Cup was not going accordingly to plan.
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La Tri had impressed in South American qualifiers, finishing second only to Argentina, hardly conceding any goals in the process. Great things were expected as a result at the tournament. There were questions about their attack, which was still led by a now 36-year-old Enner Valencia, but especially in this expanded World Cup with a generous group stage qualification scheme, a defense-first approach was not going to be detrimental.
But as it turned out, scoring a grand total of zero goals against the two lowest-ranked teams in the group — losing 1-0 to Côte d’Ivoire on a last-minute goal, followed by a scoreless 27-shot draw against lowly Curaçao — is not exactly not-detrimental. Those results left Ecuador teetering on the brink of an early elimination, needing a win against Germany in the final group stage game.
And then the Germans, who were already confirmed as group-winners, scored inside of two minutes. It looked like it was all over for our two boys in Yellow, Moisés Caicedo (captain, corner-taker, future Chelsea legend) and Kendry Páez (bench-warmer extraordinaire).
Instead, they were just getting started. Sunderland winger Nilson Angulo found the space between a defender’s legs to power a shot past Manuel Neuer to equalize before the clock struck ten minutes and they had finally arrived to the World Cup. Though Germany remained in control of the match, Ecuador was dealing with the threat fairly easily. And even their luck was changing: when they gave away a penalty, it got called back on VAR review for an earlier foul. Was it written in the stars?
In the 76th minute, it indeed was. A corner was flicked on at the near post and just before Neuer was able to clutch it in his gloves, Gonzalo Plata stuck out a leg to poke the ball into the net. The players went wild, the crowd went wild … just as they all would again some 20 minutes later, when the referee’s final whistle blew.
Ecuador had just four points from three games, but they were assured of being among the eight best third-place teams. The Round of 32 now beckons, where they will likely face Mexico (though that’s not for certain just yet) at the famous Azteca. That’s going to be a sight to behold, to be sure.