Moises Caicedo’s hopes of representing Ecuador in the World Cup quarter-finals took a major blow overnight, as the Chelsea star failed to orchestrate a win against minnows Curacao.
Despite Ecuador’s lack of goals during World Cup qualification, Caicedo and co. were expected to beat Curacao. Dick Advocaat’s side had just been hammered 7-1 by Germany in their first World Cup game.
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Yet, Ecuador only managed a 0-0 draw. The South American side, also boasting Piero Hincapie, Willian Pacho and Enner Valencia, had more than 30 shots, with 15 on target, but could not score a single goal.
It leaves Ecuador with one point despite finishing above Brazil in qualifying. They go up against Germany in a must-win final group game clash. Martin Keown was not impressed with Chelsea ace Caicedo.
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For some smaller nations, a standout player is often given set-piece duty even if they are not renowned for taking free-kicks and corners. Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres, for example, takes free-kicks for Sweden.
Overnight, Caicedo took Ecuador’s attacking set-pieces and more times than not, he failed to get it right. Ultimately, most would hit the first man, while a late cross into the box was enormously overhit.
During BBC Sport’s coverage of the 0-0 draw overnight, Keown said if he was Caicedo’s teammate on the night, he would have taken the Chelsea midfielder off set-pieces after a string of disappointing efforts.
“Just thinking about the wisdom of Caicedo taking these free-kicks, that’s two now we’ve seen, and there isn’t enough quality on these,” Keown said. It came after two consecutive free-kicks were then cleared.
Caicedo improved, before an overhit cross late on: “Whether it’s a case of him just wanting to take them, I’m asking him to sit the next one out if I’m playing with him. The quality of the delivery is all-important.”
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Caicedo’s men will now have to beat Germany in their final group game to stand any chance of going through, a tall order. Third should qualify, and Ivory Coast should beat Curacao, but points matter.
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It will also see an early exit for Kendry Paez, if Ecuador fail to get through. The only hope they have is if Germany do decide to rest players going into the third and final group game next Thursday.
Senegal lost their first game and need results in their next two, though it was against France. Nicolas Jackson and Mamadou Sarr face Norway and then Iraq, with Norway winning against Iraq this week.
Mike Penders’ Belgium could only draw against Egypt and will need a result. The same goes for Marc Cucurella – now a Real Madrid player – and Pedro Neto. But Spain and Portugal are expected to improve.
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