After four and a half years of wait, the stage is set for another FIFA World Cup. In less than two weeks, Ecuador and Qatar will face off in the inaugural game of Qatar 2022. Of course, it’s a moment La Tri have been eagerly looking forward to.
Having failed to qualify for Russia 2018, Ecuador were going through difficult times before the start of the South American qualifiers. However, hiring Gustavo Alfaro proved to be their best decision in years as the Argentine manager reversed their fortunes.
La Tri had a remarkable performance in the Conmebol qualifiers, securing an unlikely berth to Qatar over the likes of Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru. The team has an interesting mix of youngsterslike Moises Caicedo and veteran stars such as Enner Valencia, who once made headlines for the wrong reasons.
When Enner Valencia allegedly faked injury to escape police and arrest in an ambulance
In October 6, 2016, Ecuador picked up a comfortable home win over then reigning Copa America champions Chile in a World Cup qualifier. The result, however, was overshadowed by a bizarresituation happening off the field.
After 82 minutes, Enner Valencia was carted off on a stretcher after laying down on the field. Just when he was loaded onto the medical cart, the police started to chase the vehicle before Valencia was loaded into an ambulance.
It was revealed that the police had a warrant to arrest Valencia for unpaid child support expenses, and had already tried to detain him when the team arrived at the stadium. The striker apparentlyknew about this and staged this exit to avoid the arrest.
Shortly after the game, thewarrant wasrevoked and Valencia later told his side of the story. In a statement released on social media, the Ecuadorian striker said he was given custody of his daughter in December 2015as his ex-wife spent the child maintenance expenses for personal use.
That meant he no longer had to pay the $4,820 monthly fee. Still, Valencia said that his ex-wife had “suspiciously” managed to reactivatethose payments, which resulted in the aforementioned warrant for his arrest. Valencia added that the situation was resolved by giving one of his properties to cover the alleged unpaid fees and a $10,000 check.
Valencia, 33, had a great experience in Brazil 2014, scoring three goals for Ecuador— but his team couldn’t get past the group stage. Will La Tri have a deeper run this year?Using this World Cup Predictor, you can see every potential outcome of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.