Ecuador national team wilts in Colombian heat

Conceding that they were beaten at every position, Ecuador coach Gustavo Quinteros, said his team was not ready to play Tuesday against a motivated Colombian squad.

Ecuador goalie Sebastian Pérez can’t stop this goal.

“We were outplayed one-on-one and we were outplayed as a team,” Quinteros said. He added that Ecuador was fortunate that it did not lose by more than two goals.

Following all of Tuesday’s South America football matches, Ecuador is tied with Uruguay with four wins, one tie, and one loss, but it drops to second in the rankings based on number of goals scored. Uruguay defeated Peru 1-0 in a night game.

As Quinteros had said before, Ecuador was not at full strength, playing without Miller Bolaños and Felipe Caicedo, the top scorer in last year’s qualifying games. “It was also clear that several of our players, including Enner Valencia, have not fully recovered from their injuries,” he said.

Quinteros added that Ecuador’s greatest weakness was lack of speed on defense, as Colombia repeatedly beat Ecuador defenders to the goal, forcing the Tri’s goalie, Sebastian Pérez, to make stop after stop.

He also said that the Barranquilla heat, in the 30s C through out the game, was a factor but only played a minor role. “Without the injuries we would have been okay with it.”