Oval, high-level friendly between Emelec and New York City ends 2-2

Emelec drew 2-2 against New York City in a friendly match as part of the reopening celebration of their Capwell stadium, which now has a capacity of 39,000 fans. Alexander Callens made his debut for the American club, while Christian Ramos was a starter for the Ecuadorian team.

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Emelec's goals were scored by their local reinforcements for this season, Romario Caicedo at minute 41, and Ayrton Preciado at minute 53, while Sean Okoli scored at minute 81, and John Stertzer at minute 90 for the visiting team.

The football celebration of Emelec featured the presence of the American team, which had Italian Andrea Pirlo, who played for 55 minutes, and Spanish David Villa as their key figures.

Emelec closed its stadium in 2015 to expand its capacity from 21,000 to 39,000 seats, remodel it, and reopen it starting today.

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This venue will be ready for Sunday's match for the third round of the national tournament, when Emelec faces Liga de Quito, as well as for the Copa Libertadores matches.

Emelec will have the Argentine Bruno Vides, the Peruvian Christian Ramos, and the Uruguayan Sebastián Píriz as their reinforcements this year, with the Uruguayan Alfredo Arias as their coach.

Line-ups:

Emelec: Dreer (Cevallos, 57m); Mina (Quintero, 58m), Ramos (Jaime, 39m), Pinillo (Portocarrero, 58m), Bagüí, (Moreno, 46m); P. Quiñónez (Gaibor, 46m), Píriz (Lastra, 45m), R. Caicedo, Preciado (Valencia, 57m); Mondaini (Araujo, 58m), Vides, (De Jesús, 46m) (Angulo, 46m). Coach: Alfredo Arias.

New York City: Johnson (Johansen 45m); Chanot, Callens (Allen 73m), White (Gómez 78m), Matarrita (Ocoli 56m); Sands (Brown 56m), Pirlo (Stetzer 56m), Mcnamara (Awa 65m); Harrison (Louima 65m), Villa (Wingate 56m), Shelton (Sweet 45m). Coach: Patrick Vieira.

EFE