Quito, Nov 6 (IANS) Ecuador’s national soccer team coach Colombian Reinaldo Rueda Tuesday called 22 players to play friendly matches in the US against Argentina Nov 15 and Honduras four days after, as part of the training for Brazil 2014 World Cup.
What is new in the list of called players is the presence of Jayro Campos and Fernando Gaibor, who play in local clubs, as well as Leonel Ramirez, who plays in Germany’s Fortuna Dusseldorf, reported Xinhua.
Ecuador will play the first friendly match against Argentina Nov 15 in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, and Nov 19 will face Honduras in Houston’s BBVA Compas Stadium.
Both matches will mark the beginning of Ecuador’s training period towards Brazil 2014 World Cup. The Ecuadorian team qualified Oct 15 after getting a direct ticket in the South American qualifying tournament.
The friendly matches will allow Rueda, who leads the team since 2010, to better train the team towards the World Cup, the third one in which Ecuador takes part.
Before, the “Tri”, as Ecuador national team is usually called, took part in South Korea-Japan 2002 and Germany 2006.
The list of called players for the games against Argentina and Honduras includes:
Goalkeepers: Alexander Dominguez (Liga de Quito), Maximo Banguera (Ecuador’ s Barcelona).
Defenders: Gabriel Achilier (Emelec), Oscar Bagui (Emelec), Jayro Campos (Ecuador’s Barcelona) Frickson Erazo (Ecuador’s Barcelona), Juan Carlos Paredes (Ecuador’s Barcelona), Jorge Guagua (Deportivo Quito), Walter Ayovi (Mexico’s Pachuca) and Leonel Ramirez (Germany’s Fortuna Dusseldorf)
Midfielders: Enner Valencia (Emelec), Fernando Gaibor (Emelec), Luis Saritama (Liga de Quito), Joao Rojas (Mexico’s Cruz Azul), Antonio Valencia (England’s Manchester United) Renato Ibara (Netherland’s Vitesse), Segundo Castillo (Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal) and Cristhian Noboa (Russia’s Moscow Dynamo)
Forwards: Jaime Ayovi (Liga de Quito), Fidel Martinez (Mexico’s Tijuana), Jefferson Montero (Mexico’s Morelia) and Felipe Caicedo (Russia’s Lokomotiv).