After the Copa America this summer, waiting for the teams from South America a longer time without competitive games. In the international breaks are therefore only friendlies on the program. Many teams do not travel home, but due to the many European legionaries deny the games in Europe. This can also explain why it comes on Sunday afternoon in Elche for a duel between Argentina and Ecuador!
While for Argentina this is the second international game in this break, Ecuador will only contest the duel against the Albiceleste. Thanks to a strong final phase in the reissue of the 2014 World Cup finals, Argentina fought a 2-2 draw against the DFB team.
Although many stars are absent in Argentina, the Albiceleste is regarded as a big favorite. The start of the game in Elche is already at 15 pm on Sunday.
Argentina:
No Lionel Messi, no Angel di Maria and no Sergio Agüero are in the current squad of head coach Lionel Scaloni. The 41-year-old team boss has no simple task, because for years now the demands and the reality of the sky blue from South America do not match. The two-time world champion lags behind his own expectations miles behind.
The offensive is not only outstanding thanks to Lionel Messi, but besides the small flea from Barcelona, there are countless highly gifted players. The rumors that Argentina is anything but a dedicated entity have been around for several years.
Incomprehensible personnel decisions also influenced the last few years. A Mauro Icardi is left behind for years, although he was one of the best strikers in Italy. Scaloni is now trying to fulfill the big expectations.
In his time as a coach, Argentina played 18 games (with six games was only as interim coach) and comes up with a record of ten wins, four draws and four defeats. At the Copa America this year, Argentina had to beat the arch-rivals Brazil 2-0 in the Clasico.
The team, which drew 2-2 against Germany on Wednesday night, was certainly not the strongest possible Argentine side, but from the first to the last minute it was evident that one unit was on the pitch.
The late equalizer may well be called deserved. The hunger for success is felt in the relatively young team and even if it is only a friendly game, the necessary seriousness is given.
With this attitude, we see on Sunday afternoon in the duel between Argentina and Ecuador in the forecast on the favorites win good chance of success. Because even without the big superstars Argentina has to offer much more quality than Ecuador.
In addition, the unity has impressed us. As a result, we probably consider the success of the Argentines.
Ecuador:
The Copa America 2019 was a bitter disappointment for the Ecuadorian national football team. In a preliminary round group with Uruguay, Chile and visiting team Japan, the team remained without a victory. Already after the defeats against Uruguay and Chile the match was over. In the final game against the Olympics selection from Japan, Ecuador had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
This should also be the last international match of head coach Hernan Gomez. Gomez’s predecessor was summarily appointed by the Ecuadorian Association as his successor. Argentinian Jorge Celico has been responsible for the “El Tri” since August this year.
At the moment he is still running as an interim coach, but the chances of being responsible for the long-term national team of his adopted country (since 2009 he is employed in Ecuador) are very good.
He did a lot of self-promotion at the September double. In both friendly matches against Peru and Bolivia Ecuador could each celebrate a victory to zero. However, Argentina is now awaiting the first real acid test. Finally, Ecuador no longer has the outstanding players of earlier days available.
Looking at the current market values of the players, Brazilian junior Junior Sornoza is said to be the most valuable player with a value of just five million euros. Many players of the Celico Elf earn their money even in their homeland and are completely unknown in this country. Although this does not allow any conclusions about the individual quality, but as a team we see Ecuador significantly weaker than Argentina.
Despite the recent positive results, Ecuador can no longer be counted among the top teams in South America. This will also be reflected in the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifier, as the current FIFA World Cup No. 66 number will only run as an outsider. To that end, a winning tip on Double Chance X 2 between Argentina and Ecuador would definitely be a surprise.
