By Erwin Quinonez
04 Sep 2023, 23:36 PM EDT
The Ecuadorian team will start the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, facing the current world champion Argentina this Thursday, and although no match has been played, “La Tri” is already in the last place of the Conmebol table with three points less, as a result of the penalty he received for the controversial ‘Byron Castillo case’.
However, the Ecuadorian players have asked that this be put aside since it is out of their hands and they hope to concentrate on what they can control, which is trying to start the qualifiers on the right foot, as goalkeeper Alexander has let it know. Domínguez and striker Kevin Rodríguez to the press in Argentina.
“We have to try to focus a little more on the issue of the three points and yes think about what the game will be. The idea of the whole group is to try to add as many points as necessary. Then we’ll see if it reaches us. Today we know that we don’t have those points on the table now, so we shouldn’t wear our heads thinking about the three points,” said Domínguez, goalkeeper for the Liga de Quito club.
For his part, Rodríguez pointed out the importance of getting a point in his first game away from home and he was excited to face the current world champions. “It’s a nice game that any footballer wants to play. We know the responsibility that these matches entail and we are preparing ourselves”, said the attacker of the Belgian Saint-Gilloise.
Ecuador comes from signing a brilliant performance in the last qualifiers, in which they qualified fourth in South America led by the Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro, however, now they will have the Spanish Félix Sánchez leading the bench and with the hopes of returning to the Copa del World.
‘La Tri’ will begin its World Cup path with a negative balance of three points, due to the resolution issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) before the start of Qatar 2022 for the Byron Castillo case, product of the accusation filed by Chile and the one that Peru joined against the suspicions of the player’s birth certificate.
The accusation sought to sanction Ecuador for an alleged improper nationality of Castillo in the previous qualifiers by arguing that the player was born in Colombia and had been registered as an Ecuadorian through allegedly false documents.
With information from EFE.
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