With the withdrawal of defenders Luis Fernando León and Byron Castillo from the call, Ecuador increased the number of casualties in its selection ahead of the match on January 27, in Quito, for the South American qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
“The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) reports that after medical evaluations and considering the immediacy of the ‘Tri’ matches, Byron Castillo and Luis Fernando León have been called off to continue with the recovery process in their respective clubs. “, reported the FEF in a Twitter message. He added that in the next few hours, midfielder José Cifuentes, from the Los Angeles FC club, from the United States, will join the call.
It was also learned that both León and Castillo will complete the recovery, after medical operations to which they underwent in the final part of last year. The Ecuadorian coach, Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, announced the list of the first eleven summoned for the double date of the South American qualifiers, against Brazil and Peru, a list that would be completed next Wednesday.
In addition, before the last call was made, the Brazilian clubs Sao Paulo and Bragantino reported on the covid-19 condition of defenders Robert Arboleda and José Hurtado, who respectively play for those clubs and who could have been called by Alfaro. . Due to the same inconvenience, the historical scorer of the national team, Enner Valencia, would be left out of the call, since he was excluded by his club, Fenerbahçe in the recent date of the Turkish League.
Also the company that represents strikers Michael Estrada and Janner Corozo confirmed this Monday that both tested positive for covid-19. Estrada was not part of Toluca’s payroll on the recent date of the Mexican League.
The losses of Castillo and Hurtado will be covered by Ángelo Preciado (Genk-BEL) and Romario Caicedo (Emelec), but the ones that cause the greatest concern among fans are those of the team’s top scorers in the current qualifiers, Valencia and Estrada.
Ecuador is third in the standings for the qualifying rounds, with 23 points, so the matches against Brazil and Peru will be decisive in their eagerness to secure early qualification for the World Cup in Qatar.
.
