By Joiner Martínez
Félix Sánchez, Spanish Technical Director in charge of the Ecuador team, did not explicitly name the final but did not hide that the dream is to reach “the match on July 14”, the one that will award the Copa América title.
He did so at the press conference prior to the premiere in the continental tournament against Venezuela at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (California), in which he established the “game by game” mentality.
“If it is in terms of results, obviously we want to go as far as possible. Passing the group stage has to be a goal that we have to get there. For us, every game is a final and we cannot set long-term objectives, first because it is ideal to go game by game. More than ever you have to focus on each game and go game by game,” Sánchez said.
“We are going to try to compete well to be champions, to play a good game, so that people are proud. Being a champion is very difficult, but we come here to go step by step but with great enthusiasm for why not get to the match on the 14th, which is what we all dream of,” he added.
The first game, against Venezuela, will be important but not fundamental, according to Sánchez.
“The first is important, it is not decisive. We have the example of the world champion (Argentina), who lost the first match. But it’s important, starting well makes everything easier for you. It is important that we come out with concentration, it will be a very even match. We are going to try to make sure that the details go our way,” he assured.
And he highlighted his pride in coaching the group of footballers he has.
“When we arrived we already had a fairly extensive knowledge due to the World Cup matchup. We were not starting from scratch. It is a very committed group, who are all dreaming of doing something big with the national team, many of them beat themselves up to come,” he highlighted.
Ecuador, which has never won the Copa América, is drawn in a group with Venezuela, Mexico and Jamaica, and Sánchez expects a very close phase.
“The greatness of soccer is that 90 minutes are played and anyone can win. We respect our rivals a lot. By history or by ranking, Mexico should be the favorite, but we are going to try to be first,” he assured.
At eleven level, he did not give information about his lineup, including goal, but assured that he is “very calm with that position.”
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