Team profile: Ecuador

Team captain Antonio Valencia is easily the most successful Ecuadorean player in the world today. A fixture with Manchester United for five seasons, he is a potential game changer who will be looked to for leadership and to carry his nation’s hopes on the world’s biggest stage. Valencia’s impact has waned recently at United, but he’ll be relied upon to spark the Ecuadorean side. Forward Felipe Caicedo, who plays for Lokomotiv Moscow, will be looked on as the team’s primary goal scorer, filling a tragic void.

It’s tough to say a national team’s greatest World Cup moment was a loss, but when Ecuador made it out of the first round in the 2006 World Cup, it gave England all it could handle. The Ecuadoreans put together several dangerous chances but failed to convert, and it was only a brilliant, trademark David Beckham free kick that gave England a 1–0 victory and ended La Tri’s most glorious run to date.

On paper, Switzerland and France appear to have a relatively easy road to the second round in this group, but Ecuador has been underrated for years and could be poised to make a big push in its third World Cup appearance in the last four tournaments. 

Perhaps not as much of an underdog as many think, Ecuador has been toiling in the CONMEBOL region for years against heavyweights such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. With the World Cup now coming to their relative backyard, the Ecuadoreans could seize the moment to keep themselves in the conversation. 

Ecuador will be playing with some extra inspiration after the sudden death of Christian “Chucho” Benítez last year. One of the most prolific scorers in the nation’s history, Benítez suffered cardiac arrest after severe stomach pains and respiratory failure following his first game with Qatari club El Jaish. His close friend Antonio Valencia was given the captaincy as a way of rallying the squad after the shock of his death.