Ecuador remains in 63rd place in FIFA ranking
The Ecuadorian national team is currently ranked 63rd in the monthly FIFA ranking, one month before the start of the qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, in which Spanish-Dutch coach Jordi Cruyff will make his debut.
After reaching the 10th position in the ranking in 2013, and only dropping to 12th place until 2016, Ecuador started to decline when Carlos Villacís became the president of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) after Luis Chiriboga was ousted due to the illegal enrichment case known as FIFA Gate.
Under Chiriboga's leadership, both the FEF and the national team, led by Argentine-Bolivian coach Gustavo Quinteros, achieved the best start in their history on the road to a World Cup: 4 consecutive victories and leading the competition. However, this changed when Villacís took power as there was not a good relationship, as several players revealed.
Now, Cruyff will enter the scene to recover the good image that the national team had four years ago. His debut will be against Argentina on Thursday, March 26th, in a venue and schedule to be confirmed. On Tuesday, March 31st, they will face Uruguay at the Rodrigo Paz stadium in Quito.
It will be a tough task for the coach, son of the legendary Johan Cruyff (+), to rebuild a competitive team for the qualifiers. Although he has a group of young players -trained by Argentine coach Jorge Célico- he is obliged to call up experienced players such as Cristhian Noboa, Enner Valencia, and Felipe Caicedo. He also needs to have a conversation with the latter to reverse his decision to resign from the national team.
Opportunities are also expected for players who shine in the Mexican League, such as Ángel Mena (León), Miler Bolaños (Tijuana), Jonathan Perlaza (Querétaro), Pervis Estupiñán (Osasuna, Spain), Joel Valencia (who excelled at Piast Gliwice in Poland in 2019 and now plays for Brentford in England), and Fidel Martínez (Barcelona SC). (D)
