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A result that could bring them closer to qualifying for the round of 16. Ecuador drew 1-1 against the Netherlands and Gustavo Alfaro considered that his team committed "youthful mistakes" that prevented victory in the second match they played at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
"We didn't win because of the eventualities of football. If there was something I told them tonight, it was that the result didn't matter to me. We were facing the Netherlands, a team with aspirations of being world champion, who came in with 17 unbeaten matches and an average of 2.6 goals per game," he said in a press conference.
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Likewise, Alfaro considered that the Ecuadorian national team had "youthful mistakes. We lacked the number of battles of this type that the team doesn't have. The only one with experience is Enner Valencia."
The coach of the 'Tricolor' maintained that "it's not wrong to recognize that we are not superior to the opponent, the Netherlands is superior due to their hierarchy, due to the coach they have, but the bad thing is to feel inferior. We had 90 minutes to show that without the names of the Netherlands, we could be at their level," he said.
"The lack of inexperience hit us, the respect for the Netherlands. That made us lose the match. With the minutes, we realized that we are at the same level. They were convinced that with that attitude and with a couple of corrections, we could win. We lacked finishing those plays, it was a match of few chances and we had to score them," added the coach of the country belonging to Conmebol.
Ecuador has four points and after the draw, Alfaro felt that Ecuador "is up to the challenges" and that they can "battle a European team. Nothing will change my conception of the future of these boys, led by a captain who shows his hierarchy when it needs to be shown."
Now the decisive duel will be against Senegal and Alfaro indicated that they will come out motivated to achieve a point that puts them in the round of 16 for the second time in their history: "The battle against Senegal is going to be more intense and difficult than today's."