Ecuador’s Chance Still Alive

Kansas City, United States: Ecuador coach Sebastian Beccacece insisted that his team’s World Cup hopes are still not closed despite being held to a 0-0 draw by Curacao in a highly disappointing result early this morning.

The result saw Ecuador collecting only one point from two matches in Group E after losing 0-1 to Ivory Coast in their opening fixture.

They now need to secure a positive result against European giants Germany in New Jersey early Friday morning to keep their hopes of advancing to the last 32 alive.

“Life has taught me that we must keep working, keep learning, and challenges can become opportunities,” said Beccacece.

“It is normal to feel pain and disappointment at this moment, but it is not over yet.

“We still have 100 minutes ahead of us and we will fight as best we can to achieve our target.”

Ecuador dominated most of the match but failed to beat Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room, who put on an extraordinary performance with 15 saves to protect his goal.

The 37-year-old was named man of the match after denying various dangerous attempts by Ecuador, who made 28 attempts throughout the match.

“There are things in football that are difficult to explain,” said the Argentine coach.

“Whatever I say might not help. We wanted to win but failed to do so. I take that responsibility.”

Ecuador arrived at the World Cup with an unbeaten record of 19 matches and finished their South American qualifying campaign behind world champions Argentina.

Despite facing immense pressure, Beccacece still defended his players’ performance.

“This team actually deserves more than what they got today,” he said.

Harian Metro