Reinaldo Rueda met this Friday the call of Ecuador, rival to face in these Qualifiers.
Gustavo Alfaro summoned 26 players this Friday for the triple date of the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup and among those called is the midfielder Jeremy Sarmiento of Ecuadorian parents, born in Spain, and living since he was a child in England.
Sarmiento, 19, has been called up for the first time by the local team, after his performances with the England youth teams. He currently plays for the English Brighton club, which also includes midfielder Moisés Caicedo, considered one of the current jewels of Ecuadorian football.
Sarmiento will replace Júnior Sornoza, who was sent off in the match against Chile, for the sixth date.
In addition to Sarmiento and Caicedo, Alfaro has placed emphasis on other young players who stand out with their clubs abroad, such as defender Piero Hincapié of Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, although he has already played several games as the starter of the senior team, and the goalkeeper Moisés Ramírez, 20, a starter in the local tournament leader, Independiente del Valle, among others.
Ecuador will play on October 7 at home against Bolivia, which it will do for the first time in the last 20 years in the port city of Guayaquil, and three days later in Caracas against Venezuela and on October 14 against Colombia, in Barranquilla.
Ecuador shares the fourth place in the standings with Ticolor, 13 points each, but has a better goal difference than its northern neighbor, so the triple date will be crucial in its quest to qualify for the fourth time at a World Cup. Soccer, since he made his debut in South Korea and Japan in 2002, he repeated in Germany 2006 and the last time was in Brazil 2014.
After overcoming injuries, defenders Ángelo Preciado and Robert Arboleda return to Alfaro’s team, also the team’s starting goalkeeper in most of the matches since the Argentine coach, Alexander Domínguez, recently linked to the Uruguayan club Cerro Largo, leads the team.
In the list of summoned there are sixteen footballers who are active in foreign clubs and ten of those who participate in the Pro League of Ecuador.
List of called:
Goalkeepers: Alexander Domínguez (Cerro Largo-URU) Pedro Ortiz (Emelec) and Moisés Ramírez (Independiente del Valle).
Defenses: Piero Hincapié (Bayer Leverkusen-GER), Xavier Arreaga (Seattle Sounders-USA), Byron Castillo (Barcelona), Fernando León (Barcelona), Pervis Estupiñán (Villarreal-ESP), Diego Palacios (Los Angeles FC-USA), Félix Torres (Santos Laguna-MEX), Ángelo Preciado (Genk-BEL) and Robert Arboleda (Sao Paulo-BRA).
Midfielders: Alan Franco (Atlético Mineiro-BRA), Moisés Caicedo (Brighton-ING), Jhegson Méndez (Orlando City-USA), Carlos Gruezo (Ausburgo-GER), Gonzalo Plata (Real Valladolid-ESP)), Joao Rojas (Emelec), Fernando Gaibor (Independiente del Valle), Ayrton Preciado (Santos-MEX), Jeremy Sarmiento (Brighton-ING) and Ángel Mena (León-MEX).
Forwards: Enner Valencia (Fenerbahce-TUR), Michael Estrada (Toluca-MEX) Bryan Angulo (Cruz Azul-MEX) and José Angulo (Independiente del Valle).
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