This week, the World Cup qualifiers in South America were officially settled. Messi's farewell game at home was touching, and Argentina lived up to expectations and ranked first; after Brazil invited Ancelotti to join, the results were saved, but there were many problems. The fifth place pass can only be said to be "completed the bottom line goal"; J Ronaldo successfully led the team to break through, continuing his dream. In addition to these giant stars, Ecuador is a brilliant existence. Its results are better than Brazil and its performance is not inferior to Argentina. It can be regarded as the dark horse of this year.

From 71st to 27th

If you are a slightly older "old fan", when it comes to South American football, you may be able to name a bunch of names: in addition to the familiar twos, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, and Chile, it is probably the names you can hear next. This is also the "order" of South American football for many years.

However, Ecuador is like an irresistible blooming flower, madly tearing the beautiful pictures that seem to have been imprinted into people's hearts, and then embellishing itself to the desired position, achieving the effect of "a hundred schools of thought competing for beauty". In fact, they did.

Ecuador only ranked 71st in the world rankings announced by FIFA at the end of 2017; in more than seven years, they have surpassed 46 places, and have now jumped to the 25th place in the world! As we all know, the TOP20 are excellent high-quality students in football, and they are only 5 places away from this value. This South American qualifiers performed well and defeated their strong opponents are expected to get a lot of points, which means that they will be closer to their dreams in the next window.

You should know that seven years ago they were behind players like Haiti and Cape Verde; now, they are on par with teams of Sweden and Denmark. In fact, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, they also created a "dark horse effect", and after advancing, they were only half a step away from the goal of qualifying. This shows that their improvement is linear and continuous.

How did such a great progress be achieved?

Preface content: Celebrities gathered in defense, and the basic market was very stable

It is not difficult to find out through observing the data that Ecuador advanced to the World Cup this time because of its own stable defense, which is also their reliable basic market. The Ecuadorian defense system relies on the efforts of the players and its own talent. It can be said that this defense system can be regarded as the level of the top European giants, so it is not surprising that such a result is achieved.

In the coach's four-back system, the two main central defenders are Inkapier from Arsenal (the main player of Leverkusen's championship), William Pacho from Paris, and the two full-backs are Milan's new player, the main player of the Seagulls (Esturpinian) for many years, and Bruges star Odognez (the value is nearly 30 million). In comparison, they are indeed "real" Ba'a configuration.

According to statistics, Ecuador conceded only 5 goals in 18 games in this qualifiers, while central defender Pacho completed the most 13 clean sheets when he was on the court. In addition, in the same period, Kapier and Kessedo also had 11 clean sheets when he was on the court. What's even more terrifying is that they hardly take much cards and are very disciplined.

Because of their well-versed knowledge of continental football and coach Becachez has won the championship trophy in Cup and National Competition in Chile, their defense is systematic and much more three-dimensional and systematic than many South American brothers.

In front of these stars from the European League, Kesedo is responsible for commanding and protecting. This Chelsea's main midfielder is already a top player in Premier League events and even the world. With him, the defender and goalkeeper are really relieved.

In this way, Ecuador has gathered a complete set of Champions League starting lineups. In addition, they have excellent physical fitness and strong fighting spirit, and they do not suffer much injuries, so they play a very high rate of play, which protects the city gate and performs well.

The 18th round of the World Cup conceded only 5 goals, which is indeed outrageously strong. Ecuador started at a -3 state (points were deducted), and by the end, they beat the strongest, second only to Argentina. Who can think of this achievement?

Talent training: Pay attention to the youth training system and accumulate a large number of fruits

Of course, what kind of fruit can be produced depends on what kind of flowers are cultivated. It is not accidental that they have achieved such good results for Ecuador. The systematic training of the youth training development model, top-down support, and dedicated investment from various institutions have enabled them to achieve what they are today.

Objectively evaluated that Ecuador is indeed not a "rich country", especially when the population is small, it is not easy to do a good job in football. Therefore, they also chose the new "pilot" model to carry out the development from the point to the surface. Valley Independence is a wealthy family in Ecuador, and they took on this task for granted.

At first glance, it does look a bit like our "Evergrande Model".

Through various project cooperation, intergovernmental communication and the efforts of football people, Ecuador has set up a reliable channel in the past decade. In particular, their cooperation with Asbayer in Qatar has benefited a lot. In order to enhance his voice in football, Asbayer has opened training camp bases all over the world, among which the selected Valley Independence in Belgium, Linz in Austria, and Ecuador are the ones. As a pilot, they naturally enjoyed high-quality treatment.

As Ecuadorian coach Becachez himself said, after Asbayer acquired it, they have sent a lot of talents through this channel, giving local children who had no chance to play football in other places in the past new opportunities. Among them, we are familiar with Kesedo, Incapier, Pacho (direct and indirect projects), as well as Pas, who will be regarded as the future star, etc..

In the commercial model, As Bayer helps Ecuadorian talents go out, Ecuador helps Qataris make profits, and each has the right to speak in the football world. This model is quite stable and we agree with each other very much. Compared with the past, Ecuadorian talents went to Argentina to experience the other party's "select" before they had the opportunity to log in to Europe. It was really different.

For example, recently there have been news reports that Liverpool directly found Ecuador's 21-year-old young winger Angolo, hoping to talk about the transfer. When he left the local club, he went directly to Anderlecht, which also laid the foundation for his path to becoming a talent. Otherwise, in the past, this age would have gone to Argentina to try the waters and then wait for opportunities alone.

Argentina still has endless talents to deliver, how can it give you a chance?

In fact, the clues can be seen through the growth path of two generations of talents, and the personal strength of veteran Valencia is also good; however, he does not have a "promotion channel" like Kesedo, so his achievements must be greatly discounted.

The strong domestic football atmosphere in Ecuador is also the basis for their chance to create results. Just look at the official website of the Ecuadorian football administration. The data is detailed and practical, which can help you quickly understand and understand the football career in this country.

Multiple experiments: They have also failed

However, the truth is easy to explain, but it is not so easy to operate. The story of Ecuador sounds smooth sailing, but it is not. They have also encountered failures.

For example, when working with Qatar, they invited Felix Sanchez, the coach who led Qatar to kill the enemy and won the Asian Cup championship in 2019. I thought this would be a continuation of the cooperation model between each other, but in fact, Sanchez was not blessed by good luck. They regretted losing to Argentina in the Copa America, and the coach gradually faded out and left here for more than a year in coaching.

For example, the Ecuadorian League is making progress in twists and turns. Due to domestic economic factors and other foreign factors, they are indeed facing problems, including on- and off-court constraints, which has also caused Ecuador A, which was ranked first in the world in the past, to fluctuate greatly. Fortunately, the knowledgeable people did not give up. They rely on the mass base and maintained the flame of hope.

As early as ten years ago, Ecuador's team had the right to operate ticket revenue, player transfers, and television broadcasts, which is indeed very advanced. Although there has been a "reversal" afterwards, overall, the situation is indeed moving forward.

, coupled with Qatar's "timely intervention", they gave them new channels, which made the spark that continued to long for revival finally explode. There are as many as five international players in El Yankel Village, and football is a sport they love and engage in. This basic advantage cannot be underestimated.

For example, they also broke through against the trend in the 2022 World Cup, but unfortunately they were defeated by the enemy in the group stage and ranked third. However, this did not lead them to give up, but instead believed in the correctness of the road more firmly. So, this violent return was made. New coach Becaches has repeatedly praised Sanchez and his predecessors in public, saying that they are the pioneers of the local football career. Such an inheritance is indeed very patterned and systematic.

It seems not difficult to succeed once, but the difficult thing is to persevere.

In addition, it may not be just a "spark of fire". Messi's old teammate Campana is an Ecuadorian football player. He has an extremely prominent background. His father was a ministerial executive and his grandmother was one of the most famous entrepreneurs in the region. However, he has been determined to play football since he was a child, and his family members were extremely opposed but could not resist him. This brings up a classic story: If you may not do it well, come and inherit the wealth of a family! Although it is just a joke, there are quite a few young people in Ecuador who have similar growth paths as him. It can be said that their love for football is sincere. Such an atmosphere is of great help to shape its culture and restore its troughs. Although it has failed, the future is bright.

There is still room for improvement

After defeating Argentina 1-0, Ecuador has come to a joyful mode of celebration, but some cautious people pointed out that this is just their "transfer station" and next year's World Cup is the real "end point". That's true, coach Becachez reminds the players not to be too excited, they still have many problems to solve.

The outstanding personnel in the midfield and backcourt are exactly a sharp contrast with the lack of personnel in the midfield and frontcourt. The forward teams basically rely on the support of veterans. They do not have many reliable talents. In major competitions, they can often stabilize the situation, but it is difficult to provide enough damage on the offensive end. The experience of the coach and players is also a point that many people blame. The issue caused huge controversy to win Kesedo in the final round, causing him to be sent off and miss the first round of the main game. Perhaps, this is caused by lack of experience.

In addition, the gap in the strength of the main substitutes is indeed quite large. When Kesedo and S2 are not tired, such as in the two-month mode of the World Cup qualifiers, they can maintain a good state; but if they come to the competition mode, it is difficult to ensure high intensity, which is also a problem.

However, it is respectable to be able to achieve such achievements, and their stories are a role model for us to learn from.

(Li Pengpeng)