La Tri will host Brazil in Quito on January 27 and then visit Peru on February 2.
EFE
Ecuador, third in the South American qualifier for Qatar-2022, called its first eleven players for the next and decisive matches against Brazil and Peru, the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) reported on Sunday.
The partial squad includes four soccer players from teams in the United States and one from Mexico.
The tricolor (third with 23 points) will meet Brazil (leader with 35) on January 27 at the Rodrigo Paz stadium in Quito, for the fifteenth date of the regional qualifiers.
On the next day, scheduled for February 1, Ecuador will visit Peru (fifth with 17 units and -5 goal difference).
“With four points we are safe in the World Cup or with three more points and the goal difference,” estimated the strategist of the tricolor team, the Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, in recent statements for a radio station in his country.
He added that “we are close, but now the most difficult thing is missing, which is to close.”
Brazil and its escort Argentina (with 29) are already qualified for the Qatari tournament.
The Ecuadorian payroll for now is made up of:
Goalkeepers: Pedro Ortiz (Emelec) and Moisés Ramírez (Independiente del Valle).
Defenders: Xavier Arreaga (Seattle Sounders, USA), Byron Castillo (Barcelona), Diego Palacios (Los Angeles, USA) and Fernando León (San Luis, Mexico).
Flyers: Alan Franco (Charlotte, USA), Joao Rojas (Emelec), Jhegson Méndez (Orlando City, USA) and Romario Caicedo (Emelec).
Forward: Djorkaeff Reasco (League of Quito). (D)