The Ecuadorian team continues with its sights set on the Qatar 2022 World Cup and, this Thursday, the ‘Tricolor’ squad list for the friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and Japan was known. On the payroll, the presence of Byron Castillo stands out, whom Chile accuses of playing to represent the neighboring country without being Ecuadorian.
Chile, which was left out of the Qatari tournament, went to FIFA to demand the points from the two games against Ecuador, with a 0-0 draw in Quito and a 2-0 defeat in Santiago.
Castillo, a midfielder for the Mexican León, is one of the 24 players who play for foreign clubs who were called by Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro for the duels with Saudi Arabia, on September 23 at the Real de Murcia stadium, Spain, and with Japan , four days later at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The rivals of the ‘Tricolor’ also qualified for the World Cup. The majority of those called up play in Mexico, Belgium, the United States and England.
Alfaro mentioned only four soccer players from national teams: goalkeepers Hernán Galíndez, Moisés Ramírez, Alexander Domínguez and Gonzalo Valle.
In friendlies held in June, Ecuador beat Cape Verde and Nigeria (both 1-0) and tied with Mexico (0-0).
In the World Cup, which will be played in November and December, Ecuador is in Group A together with the host Qatar, Senegal and the Netherlands, while Saudi Arabia appears in Group C with Argentina, Mexico and Poland and Japan in Group E with Spain, Costa Rica and Germany.
The ‘Tricolor’ achieved the fourth and last direct ticket from South America to Qatar 2022 with 26 points, behind Brazil (leader with 45), Argentina (39) and Uruguay (28).
Summoned from Ecuador for the FIFA date:
archers: Hernán Galíndez (Aucas), Moisés Ramírez (Independiente del Valle), Alexander Domínguez (Quito League) and Gonzalo Valle (Guayaquil City).
Defenses: Byron Castillo (León, Mexico), Ángelo Preciado (RKC Genk, Belgium), Luis León (San Luis, Mexico), Jackson Porozo (Estac Troyes, France), Piero Hincapié (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Xavier Arreaga (Seattle Sounders, United States), William Pacho (Royal Antwerp, Belgium), Pervis Estupiñán (Brighton, England) and Diego Palacios (Los Angeles, United States).
Midfielders: Carlos Gruezo (Augsburg, Germany), Jhegson Méndez (Los Angeles, United States), Moisés Caicedo (Brighton, England), Patrickson Delgado (Ajax, Netherlands), Alan Franco (Talleres, Argentina), José Cifuentes (Los Angeles, United States ), Gonzalo Plata (Valladolid, Spain), Ángel Mena (León, Mexico), Anthony Valencia (Royal Antwerp, Belgium), Jeremy Sarmiento (Brighton, England), Romario Ibarra (Pachuca, Mexico) and Nilson Angulo (Anderlecht, Belgium) .
strikers: Michael Estrada (Cruz Azul, Mexico), Enner Valencia (Fenerbahce, Turkey) and Djorkaeff Reasco (Newell’s Old Boys, Argentina).
With information from AFP.