Israel Rodríguez, goalkeeper who had his most notable performance for the National Team precisely against Argentina during the 1983 Copa America in Buenos Aires (2-2 at the Monumental stadium), believes that if Máximo Banguera had chosen another club instead of leaving Barcelona for El Nacional, he might be the Tricolor's starting goalkeeper who will face Argentina this Thursday in the beginning of the qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
"I always said that Banguera should not have gone to El Nacional because Johan Padilla, who is a national team goalkeeper, was already there. This took away space for Máximo to show himself and be considered for a call-up. He made a big mistake. Now that he is in the Delfin team and has shown against the Argentine players of Defensa y Justicia that he is in good form (a 3-0 victory at Jocay in the Copa Libertadores); well, these are the punishments that have to be paid for certain decisions," Rodríguez told EL UNIVERSO.
The former goalkeeper of Emelec, Filanbanco, and Deportivo Cuenca also referred, in general, not only to goalkeepers, to the call-up made by Gustavo Alfaro, coach of the Ecuador national team.
"Are you in agreement with the players who were called up or did you prefer others?" he was asked. Rodríguez replied: "Whenever there is a call-up, it is normal for the fans not to be happy because some believe that a certain player should have been called up, that one is better than another, but we have to respect what coach Alfaro has chosen. He may have called up players who are not starters in their teams, like Érick Ferigra (the Ecuadorian-Spanish defender of Torino in Italy). I saw this guy's profile and he hasn't had any playing time with his club. He also doesn't have the experience of being in a national team because he hasn't gone through the process from the youth teams with the Tri. I believe that the coach should always make calls when a player is in better form at that moment, not based on how they were a year or six months ago. Leonardo Campana's situation doesn't sound good to me either, as he has been inactive, beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Coach Alfaro is new and I believe that this list can be said to have been made by Jorge Célico. There is a transition of players. That is what Alfaro is looking for to definitively build this process called Qatar 2022. I don't think this is the best list, but there is hope that things can turn out better for us. We'll see what happens, because it will be a very difficult match against Lionel Messi's Albiceleste," he said.
And regarding the ages of the three goalkeepers called up, Alexander Domínguez and Hernán Galíndez, both 33 years old, and Pedro Ortiz, 30, Rodríguez commented: "We must remember that goalkeepers are like whiskey, the older, the better. I have always said that the maturity of goalkeepers is between 28 and 30 years old; and from there, many continue to excel until 36, 38, and in exceptional cases, even 40. They are the only players in football who can extend their careers if they live a careful life. The best example is Jorge Pinos. Four years ago, he didn't stand out, but last year, at 30, he stood out and won the Sudamericana."