Ecuador struggles with casualties to face Paraguay in the world championship

Ecuador, hit by the absence of some of its figures, is looking for the players in “better conditions” to face a decisive match against Paraguay for the penultimate date of the Qatar-2022 World Cup qualifier, coach Gustavo Alfaro said Tuesday.

“I need eleven players who are at 100% of their chances because what we are going to play is nothing more and nothing less than qualifying for a World Cup and that is where we must try to put the players who are in the best position to face that challenge that will be physical, football and mental,” Alfaro said at a press conference. .

Ecuador, third in the South American qualifier with 25 points, is very close to winning its direct ticket to Qatar alongside the already qualified Brazil and Argentina.

The Argentine coach, who for the first time heads a national team, lamented the losses of the tricolor for next Thursday's match, which will be played in Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.

The Ecuadorian national team will not count for that match with Moisés Caicedo, Alan Franco and the swift Gonzalo Plata, due to suspension.

Among the injured and in doubt are Romario Ibarra and Enner Valencia.

“We depend on the quantity and quality of outsiders we have” to define the strategy of the game against the Guaraníes, with no chance of getting a quota for Qar-2022.

Alfaro acknowledged that despite Paraguay being left out of the world cup event, his coach, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, wants to “start giving his mark” to the team with young players “who are doing things right in their clubs”.

The steering wheel Jeremy Sarmiento, for his part, considered that it will be a “difficult” encounter.

“It's going to be a final, they're not going to let us do anything, they're going to give everything they have. We have to be well focused for that match and qualify for that same match,” Sarmiento commented at the same virtual press conference, who considered it to be a “difficult” match.

After facing Paraguay, the tricolor will measure strength with the albiceleste in Guayaquil on March 29.

With only two games left before the closing of the South American qualifier, Alfaro highlighted the “sense of belonging” that his team has, made up mostly of young people with an average age of 23.

And he recalled that “attitude is more important than tactics” on the court.

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