Ecuador just had its greatest football moment. Now for a national holiday – and party time
In the immediate aftermath, Ecuador’s president Daniel Noboa called a national holiday.
On Friday, the country will come together, “celebrating a moment full of pride and unity”, after the national team defeated Germany to keep their World Cup campaign alive.
We already knew Ecuador to be a strong team. They placed second in the South American qualification table, ahead of Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil. The team lost just twice and conceded only five goals in 18 qualification fixtures. Ecuador has some world-class players, most notably Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo in midfield, as well as Paris Saint-Germain’s Willian Pacho and Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie. Yet for much of this group phase, it had appeared they would fall short, with a lack of quality up front hampering the team’s chances in a defeat against the Ivory Coast and in a goalless draw against Curacao. That made the final match against Germany a must-win game.
And Ecuador, despite falling behind inside two minutes, found a way. The goals came from 23-year-old Sunderland winger Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata, who plays his club football in Brazil at Flamengo. More than individual moments, however, this was a driven, organized and dogged Ecuador performance. This was not a freak result; it was wholly merited and there will be plenty of nations eager to avoid them as the tournament continues.
Ecuador’s place is still to be fully assured, such is the complication of FIFA’s 48-team tournament, but it is now firmly expected they will progress and their most likely opponent will be Mexico, the winner of which could play England, should Thomas Tuchel’s side top its group.
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“The difference today was that the opponent wanted to win more than us,” the German captain Joshua Kimmich told DAZN.
At the final whistle, the Ecuador players released. Some collapsed to their knees, others punched the air and substitutes raced onto the field. There was exhaustion, jubilation and relief, all fusing into a powerful tableau of yellow ecstasy. Their coach Sebastian Beccacece, a long-haired Argentine, jumped into the stands and wildly embraced his family. As the raw emotions subsided, every player and staff member congregated in the center circle and defender Felix Torres led the team in giving gratitude to God for the result.
Beccacece insisted afterwards that his team did not change anything stylistically for this match against Germany, even after criticism from fans had reportedly extended to a verbal confrontation involving members of his own family in the 0-0 draw against Curacao in Kansas City.
He described his squad as containing 26 “warriors”, saying there is “purity” in the group. He told the story of how Enner Valencia, the 36-year-old forward with more than 100 caps, had handed over the captain’s armband to Caicedo for this game against Germany.
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Beccacece said: “That shows you the beauty we have in the team; charisma, unity, admiration, it was like a father passing on the baton to his kid. Enner is the living heritage and legacy of Ecuador, with the amount of international caps, how he works, how he commits, how much joy he brings. That’s why I feel very emotional, because of my players, how they share, how they interact in a world full of egos.
“When people argue about who wears an armband, or what position they play, that doesn’t exist here. We make mistakes of course, but we have purity in our group.”
This was Ecuador’s greatest day at a World Cup. They first qualified for the men’s competition in 2002 and this is the country’s fifth appearance. The team has never progressed beyond the round of 16 and has only once gotten through the group stage. They have had some fine wins, notably against Croatia in 2002 and Poland in 2006, but never against a team as established as four-times World Cup winners Germany, in a game Ecuador simply had to win.
The team was cheered on by a sea of yellow in New Jersey, with Ecuador fans vastly outnumbering the pockets of Germans. The Ecuadorian diaspora in the United States stands at more than 800,000, many of whom reside in New York City and New Jersey. At the Club World Cup final last year, one vivid memory is how many Ecuadorians turned out in national-team colors to cheer on Chelsea’s Caicedo.
On the concourses afterwards, the joy was unrelenting. A man in his twenties told The Athletic he had travelled from Ecuador for the game with his family. He had paid $2,000 (£1,500) for his ticket alone. “It is worth it,” he grinned.
Mauricio, a 38-year-old Ecuador fan, said: “The team came from the grave today. Ecuador all the way, baby! Ecuador always comes from the bottom, and always makes it to the top.”
Gonzalo Plata scored the winner against Germany (Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)
For coach Beccacece, it was also an evening of vindication.
“The relationship of the coach with the fans is not the best,” the journalist Alexis Sinchire Jimenez of Ecuadorian publication El Comercio told The Athletic.
“Beccacece had faced a significant backlash in Ecuador due to his style of play and certain decisions regarding players, particularly young ones who made their debuts before they were ready. That is why he has been unpopular. His reaction at the end of the game — going to celebrate and embrace his family — was a very natural one, especially because his family had also had issues with the Ecuadorian fans during the previous match.”
The reporter, however, says the bond between the coach and the players always remained strong. “They have a really excellent relationship,” Jimenez insists.
By the end of his news conference, Beccacece appeared finally to be receiving some love, as even Ecuadorian journalists were asking for selfies (entertainingly in front of a FIFA volunteer holding up a sign saying no selfies). The 45-year-old is a former assistant to ex-Chile and Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli, before carving out his own career as a head coach in the Argentine top tier and at Elche in Spain. He appeared to take pleasure in overcoming adversity.
“That’s what life is about,” Beccacece reflected. “It is about learning how to suffer and having composure, faith, belief, poise, confidence. To show calmness in adversity.
“Sometimes in football, you might lose or you might win, but, when you trust the way you are working as a coach, you need to remain calm.
“Now I ask the entire country of Ecuador to remain united. I apologise to everyone who hasn’t clicked with me.”
The coach, a vivid raconteur, said he did not want his team to feel like they were in hell after the setback against Curacao, or as though they were in heaven after this victory. He then embarked on an ode to his adopted country.
“I traveled from north to south in Ecuador, I was in Quito for many years, I traveled to Santo Domingo, Machala, Valle del Chota and Cuenca. I found very kind, hard-working, grateful people.
“I have learned so much of the culture on these trips, I have learned how important work is for them, the meaning it has. That is what I’m always trying to convey in our team.
“I don’t want to get into any arguments with journalists. Some people maybe said this could be our worst World Cup, that we could end the group with two defeats and one draw.
“I said to keep united, and to find a way that will lead us to very big things. That is what we did today, winning against a powerhouse. For as long as we are still alive, we need to seek that light, we need to believe.”
In the streets of Quito, the car horns were beeping as fans poured into the plazas.
“Let the people of Ecuador enjoy this,” the coach said. “Let them have a beer, celebrate with family members, and raise a glass to those beloved ones that passed away.
“As for us, we are going to celebrate with our family, as we did when we were defeated, as we did when we drew. Then we will take a flight back to our base in Ohio (where Ecuador are training at Columbus Crew’s facilities).
“The people looking after us are so nice, the staff in the kitchen, the staff at the spa, the driver who told us that he trusted in our team.
“I want people to fall in love with these footballers. The only thing I know is this group deserves the best. People should be positively infected by this! Today we were extraordinary; when you combine motivation and emotions with a strategic game plan, we can compete against anyone.”