Chapter 554 Ecuador

Ecuador team.

This is an upstart team in South American football. Similarly, this World Cup is their second consecutive World Cup finals, but don't underestimate this South American plateau team. Uruguay, Colombia, Chile and other traditional South American powerhouses have fallen at their feet. Ecuador does not have any superstar players. It is difficult for ordinary fans to find players whose names they have heard of in their entire lineup.

But despite this, the Ecuadorian team still has their pride, such as the center forward Delgado, or the agile Cavides.

These two players are like two sharp daggers of Ecuador. Any team that underestimates Ecuador will suffer cruel consequences. For example, the Croatian team paid a heavy price for underestimating them in the World Cup in Korea and Japan four years ago.

Agustin Delgado was born in 1974 and is 32 years old this year. The center forward is 188 cm tall and weighs 83 kg. On the football field, such a player is as powerful as a tank.

At just 19 years old, Delgado was called up to the national team by the head coach.

In 1998, Delgado represented Ecuador in the World Cup qualifiers. Lacking experience in major tournaments, he only scored two goals, and Ecuador was repeatedly beaten by opponents. Four years later, Delgado became Ecuador's top scorer. In the previous two years, he had been playing for the Mexican team Necaxa. Many fans remember him because they saw him riding alone for thousands of miles in the first Club World Cup in 2000, breaking through the Real Madrid city and helping Necaxa win 1-0.

After that, Delgado has been performing exceptionally well. In 2001, he scored 14 goals in the Mexican League and performed even more brilliantly in the Ecuadorian team. After replacing Galca and Cavides as the main striker of the Ecuadorian team in the second half of 1999, he continued to score goals and became a super killer that made people shudder.

In 2002, Delgado led Ecuador to participate in the World Cup in Korea and Japan, and tied with Argentine striker Crespo for the top scorer in the South American qualifiers. In the same year, he transferred to Southampton in the Premier League for 3.5 million pounds, becoming the first Ecuadorian to play in the Premier League, but his life in the UK was not good. In the first team, he played a total of 143 minutes and scored one goal. He had two major knee surgeries, and then he returned to South America, and after going through several clubs, he joined his current club Barcelona.

Now at the age of 32, Delgado, who has become a veteran, is still the sharp knife of the Ecuadorian team. He has not scored many goals, but most of them are priceless and most of them are the decisive ones.

The South American media called Delgado "the dazzling black tornado" and "the unstoppable goal machine."

In the group match of Group A, Delgado scored the winning goal in the team's match against the Czech Republic. He was the most important contributor to Ecuador's qualification for the group.

Because of this, many media reminded the England team before the game to be careful of the 'Black Tornado'. Perhaps Delgado is unknown in Europe, but in South America, his name almost represents goals.

This is somewhat similar to Wang Li.

During the pre-match warm-up, England players met with Ecuadorian players. No one could have imagined that Owen, a "standard low-key good man" who rarely spoke in front of the team, would actually know Delgado, and they even greeted each other.

This scene looked a little weird, and Wang Li also asked about it.

It turned out that in the season when Delgado joined Southampton, he scored a goal against Liverpool. In that game, his performance was very outstanding. Unfortunately, a week later, he was injured and never played in the Premier League again.

It was also in that game that Irving met Delgado, and the two exchanged jerseys.

"Be careful of that big black guy, he's very strong."

When his England teammates asked about Delgado's ability, Owen pointed to the top of his head and said: "He has a very good header. I think they will definitely look for opportunities with a high lob. You have to be careful."

Hearing this, the expressions of the English players were not very good, and they were even a little worried.

The main reason is that Ferdinand is injured!

In the England team, the best player in defending against high balls is Ferdinand. Even John Terry is far behind him in this regard. As for Campbell? That old guy is not taken seriously at all now. Even if he plays, he probably won't perform well.

If the reported World Cup player quota could not be changed, McLaren would even like to recruit two more defenders.

Before the World Cup, England had seven defenders on its roster: Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Campbell, Bridge and Jamie Carragher.

Now that Ferdinand is injured, only Campbell, Terry, Carragher and Gary Neville can play as central defenders. Among them, Campbell's performance in training is not good. After all, the veteran is old, and due to the inherent limitation of his height, his ability to intercept the ball is not very strong.

As for Gary Neville, he is better at playing as a full-back than a central defender. McClaren recruited him into the England team because of his intercepting ability on the wing.

So, after Ferdinand was injured, England's defense had problems.

Even the England players were a little worried about this. When they heard that Delgado was very good at heading, they felt that it would not be easy to win the game.

"If only we could score more goals than them!"

Seeing his teammates' worried expressions, Wang Li said, "They can't defend against us. Even if there is a strong one, they can't be our opponent. Are we not strong?"

After hearing this, the teammates finally responded. Harrison, who always called himself a rookie but was actually "very mean and sinister", also spoke in support: "That's right, Allen, we are the strongest!"

The England players are ready for the final battle with Ecuador.

At the same time, at the pre-match press conference, McLaren appeared very low-key. He was well aware of the flaws and shortcomings in the England team's lineup. He only hoped that the team could take advantage of its strong offensive capabilities to gain an advantage in winning the game.

With this kind of mentality, Mr. Gentleman Coach would certainly not reveal any hot news.

Seeing this situation, the media were very disappointed. They placed their hopes on Ecuador's head coach Suarez, hoping that the Colombian coach could break some news.

It seems that Suarez is better than McLaren, at least he doesn't speak the official language.

"This is a very difficult match for us and a challenge to the team's history. It will definitely be a tough game with high tactical requirements."

"England is a traditional strong team in Europe and even the world. They are a member of the knockout stage every year, and this is our first time in the knockout stage. Most people think we have no chance, but we will do everything we can to win!"

Regarding the issue of England's No. 21 black-haired boy mentioned by the reporter, Suarez commented: "He is a real genius. The five goals in the two World Cup group matches have proved everything. Like many coaches who have met him, I have also arranged a lot of tactics to limit his performance."

In the press conference, apart from a few compliments from Suarez, there was not much to highlight. The atmosphere between the two teams was very calm, and they seemed to be waiting for the real battle on the green field.

Gottlieb Daimler Stadium, Stuttgart, Germany.

The stadium was completely filled with fans who had been looking forward to the upcoming game for a long time. Half of these fans were German local players, and there were also several thousand English fans and hundreds of Ecuadorian supporters. In addition, many tourists from other countries who came to Germany also occupied a large part of the stands.

This match was a knockout match of the top 16, so the atmosphere was much more heated. As the England team was playing, the fans at the scene quickly became supporters of the England team, with the majority being female fans, just because Wang Li had already trotted out of the player tunnel on the field - "England's No. 21 player Allen~~~Wang~~~~!!!!"

Following a long roar from the commentator, the atmosphere at the scene immediately reached a climax. Almost all the fans were shouting Wang Li's name at the top of their lungs, and more than half of the supporters of Beckham and others who were on the field also turned to support Wang Li.

Perhaps, before the World Cup, Wang Li's reputation had not reached this level, but his performance in the first two group matches won him a lot of support. The World Cup has always been the best opportunity for players to show themselves, because many people who do not pay attention to European football will also pay attention to the World Cup.

Now, almost all the people around the world who watch the World Cup know the name of Wang Li, because as long as they watch the World Cup, there will always be a TV commentator who will mention the name "Alan Wang" every day. In some games, the commentator will even specifically mention Wang Li to compare with the performance of the players on the field.

This made Wang Li's reputation increasingly influential.

As for the names of other English players, the commentator only mentioned them briefly, even Beckham and Owen. Perhaps the presence of a player like Wang Li in the England team is a tragedy for other players.

As for the Ecuadorian players, the commentator simply passed them over because he was simply reading from the player list. The commentator had never heard of the names of these players, not even the team's top scorer Delgado.

After all, he is not well-known in Europe.

After the welcoming ceremony of 'Wang Li' ended, the on-site commentator began to get into work mode and he started to introduce the starting players of the two teams to the audience.

The England team still uses the unchanging 442 formation, with Owen and Wang Li as forwards, Gerrard leading the midfield, other players include Beckham, Joe Cole and Hargreaves, and defenders are Jamie Carragher, Terry, Gary Neville and Bridge.

In this game, due to Ferdinand's injury, Bridge finally got the chance and became the starter, while Phil Neville and Campbell both sat on the bench.

Harrison also sat on the bench. McClaren gave him a chance in the last game, but Harrison failed to score a goal and he could not replace Owen.

As for Liverpool's top striker Crouch?

This tragic man was exposed by the media before the game that his girlfriend drove his sports car and had sex with her ex-boyfriend, and was secretly photographed by others. He was wearing a green hat. Because of the "girlfriend gate" incident, McLaren was very worried about Crouch's mental state and did not include him in the big list.

Ecuador also uses a 442 formation, but they obviously care more about defense. In the 442 formation, only Delgado is a real striker, and the other striker, Cavides, has a more defensive task than an offensive one.

Ecuador played a defensive counterattack, and they had to play that way. As a team with weaker players, it was not a wise choice to play against the England team with the strongest offensive firepower.

In addition to the forward line, Ecuador's other players are Valencia, Mendes, Ayovi, Tenorio, Ambrosi, De La Cruz, Hurtado, Espinosa, and goalkeeper Bellaforte.

In this farce, with a whistle from the Norwegian referee, the game finally began.

The game had just begun. England, led by Wang Li, took advantage of Ecuador's lack of stability and launched a fierce attack on Ecuador's half! !

Under McLaren's tactical style, England's offense has improved greatly. Everything on the team is centered on offense. When the formation is pulled apart, the two full-backs will also move onto the field in a big way. Only the center back and the midfielder in the middle will slightly delay. This style of play is very open and seems a bit dangerous, but England's fierce attack makes up for this. Coupled with the effective interception ability of general Gerrard in the middle, it is difficult for any team to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack under the massive attack.

At least the South American highland players in front of us are not capable of doing this.

This tactic looks very smooth and is very appreciative, but from a tactical point of view, McLaren's style of play is more suitable for defeating the weak with the strong. The team should show great strength to use offense to put pressure on the opponent.

This is a bit like a heavy sword without an edge and great skill without refinement.

However, if they encounter a team with similar strength to England, this style of play will obviously be at a disadvantage. Although the heavy sword is good, when the opponent also uses the heavy sword, without any clever and powerful sword skills, they will definitely not be able to compare with others' powerful and clever style of play.

Of course, these are all things that McLaren needs to consider. At least for this game, there is no need to consider related matters, because Ecuador is not an epee.

The game is now exciting for England fans as their team is overwhelming Ecuador.

The game had just begun, and England got a chance to shoot in the first attack. This was an opportunity created by Gary Neville. After getting the ball in front of the center line, Neville made a long pass and accurately found Wang Li. Wang Li made a straight pass from the right side of the penalty area and passed the ball directly to the small penalty area line.

Afterwards, Irving came in from behind - "Irving!!! Shoot!!! What a pity" From the tone of the commentator, we can tell that the ball failed to go in.

It wasn't that Owen's shot missed, but at the moment of his shot, an Ecuadorian defender shoveled the ball away from the side. If Owen hadn't reacted in time, he would probably have followed in the footsteps of Lampard and Ferdinand and had to go to the hospital to recuperate.

"The game had only started for two minutes when England's attack directly threatened Ecuador's defense. Michael Owen was just one step away from scoring!"

"It seems that the England players are in good shape today. They played with the momentum of the England team. I think it will be difficult to play against Ecuador today."

This shot by golden boy Michael Owen seemed to have sounded the clarion call for England's all-out attack. After that, England's attacks became more and more fierce.

Seeing the situation on the field, Ecuador coach Suarez could not help but worry. Before the game, he thought that England's offensive ability was very strong, but as a South American team, although Ecuador's strength was not well-known, it had no psychological pressure to compete with European powerhouses. After all, the two teams were very unfamiliar with each other.

In the World Cup, the opening should have been a matter of mutual adaptation, and he felt that as long as the team could hold on in the first half and look for chances to score, then Ecuador still had a chance of winning.

But in the current situation, England launched a massive attack right away.

This kind of game was beyond his expectations. He couldn't help but worry about the team. If England scored first, it would be even more difficult for the team to play.

But the game on the field is still going on, and Suarez cannot control it.

Soon, England got another chance. This time it was Wang Li. With the support of his teammates, he finally received the pass near the penalty area. Many of Wang Li's fans could even imagine what would happen next - dribbling the ball and shooting!

Wang Li's choice was still beyond the fans' expectations. He chose to shoot directly. Without stopping the ball at all, Wang Li observed the surrounding situation, turned around and shot directly at the rolling ball!

This is what a real cold shot is!

Ecuadorian goalkeeper Bellafuerte had no reaction at all. Although the angle of the shot was not tricky, the ball still went into the net from Bellafuerte's hand.

(To be continued)