Walter Ayoví Corozo will turn 39 years old in August, but he clarifies that it will depend on his performance in 2018 to decide if he retires from football. La Tricolor, which he dreamed of saying goodbye to by playing in Russia 2018, is indeed a finished cycle - he reveals that he is saddened by not having qualified for the World Cup. The Esmeraldas native accepts in dialogue with this newspaper that the relationship between the national team players and Carlos Villacís, president of the FEF, was not good, and he hopes that the new coach "will be allowed to work in peace." He says that being the most expensive player of Guayaquil City does not affect him.
Will you retire at the end of the year?
It's not like that. It depends on how this season ends to see if I retire. If I finish (2018) positively, maybe I will continue. I have dedicated a lot of time to football and I could keep going, but the family needs to be in a stable place.
What are you proud of and what do you regret?
I am proud of what I have achieved so far. I regret accepting that someone makes me play as if I were younger than I was at the beginning of my career. That was not a good example.
Which club do you think you performed best in?
At the national level, I did something important in every club. In Emelec I started and won back-to-back championships; it was valuable and significant. In Barcelona, I strengthened my maturity as a player; I scored more goals there, but I couldn't win a title. In El Nacional, I won a crown and was able to consolidate my arrival to the national team. Abroad, Monterrey is where I did the best. I won titles in a country I didn't know much about and I adapted quickly. I have fond memories of the team.
Which club are you a fan of and where do you want to retire?
I admire and respect all three of the teams I have been with here. I'm a fan of one of them, but I will reveal the name when I retire. For now, the possibility of retiring is with Guayaquil City; they have given me the opportunity to play, they have supported me, and it would be meritorious for the club and for me to say goodbye here.
Do you feel pressure for being the most expensive player of the City?
No. That is not relevant to me, it may be relevant to others. What I have achieved and received is because of the talent that God has gifted me with. It is because of the strength in every practice and every game, and the lessons I have received from all my coaches.
If you had to thank someone, who would it be?
First, God, for giving me this talent; my parents and especially my sister Paola, who always believed in me. She was both a mother and father at one point. I am grateful to every coach. Jesus Cardenas and Israel Rodriguez are people who guided me a lot and I am thankful to them. Professor Alfredo Encalada also did it, he was always like a father to me in the U-17 team. He gave me good advice that served me well.
Has your cycle in the national team ended?
Yes. It is a stage that has come to a close. The only thing left is to play one final match.
How to restore the image of the national team after the acts of indiscipline?
What happened is already history. The indiscipline was not only a problem for the players, but also for everyone involved in the national team and for the country. In the end, the qualifying process ended in a very negative way.
The national team started with four victories and ended up as one of the worst in the qualifiers. What happened?
That was something surprising and even today we wonder where the failure was, what happened to us. We were all to blame. The players, because we played; the coach, because he selects the team and decides the starting eleven; and the management, who are in charge of making sure that everything is provided for the players to focus solely on playing. When we won the four consecutive matches and then, when we lost to Colombia, many journalists talked about changes, about players who were worthless and too old. I wonder, did the young players who came in the end do anything different from what the older ones did?
How was your relationship with the coach?
We got along well. Towards the end of the pre-World Cup qualifiers, it was said (in the press) which players and coach should leave. That affected us. There were still five or six matches left and we could have earned points, but there were surveys asking who should play. Perhaps the coach let himself be influenced because he had to play a certain player. That was annoying.
Cristhian Noboa commented that the relationship with the president of the FEF was not good.
There were misunderstandings from his side (Carlos Villacís), as well as ours. Things that should not have been said were eventually said.
Did the relationship between players and management deteriorate?
Yes. The relationship between the officials and the players was not good. Sometimes we needed the officials to be there, but their approaches were only to see the negative things and not to add anything positive. Officials should always be in good terms with the coaching staff and the players. We declined and now we are among the worst national teams in South America. The management must improve and understand that modern football is managed differently.
Should the new national team coach be national or foreign?
If we hire someone from here, the same thing could happen as with (Gustavo) Quinteros. If it is, for example, the coach of Barcelona (Guillermo Almada), who has done things well, they will say that he identifies with his team and that he will call up the entire Barcelona team. Quinteros used to bring six or seven players from Emelec and people asked why he called them and not the ones from Barcelona. It's a waste of time; we will have a new soap opera. I prefer a coach who comes from outside, who doesn't favor anyone, and who is allowed to work in peace.
Do you think Quinteros was stigmatized for having been the coach of Emelec?
Yes. There are fans of Barcelona, and Barcelona and Liga de Quito journalists who contributed to not allowing the coach to work well for the national team. Even when he was winning, negative comments were heard. If it happened once, it should not happen again. (D)
Victor Vucetich was my coach for several years. I learned a lot from him and he helped me strengthen myself in a position that I didn't identify with: defensive midfielder. He is an advisor and knows how to read the game very well.
Walter Ayoví,
Player of Guayaquil City.