Postmortem
So, we failed to score against Curaçao, arguably the World Cup’s weakest participant – certainly its smallest. This is no surprise. Scoring is the surprise. Every goal of the last two four-year cycles has seemed miraculous. Enner, our country’s greatest scorer, is not a reliable scorer; he, too, is gripped by the national malaise.
My blood ran cold very early on, after Enner’s first miss. I knew it would be almost impossible to win.
It wasn’t a matter of not creating chances. Enner had chances.
It wasn’t a deficiency of technique. Enner has technique. And he has noûs. He does brilliantly until the final touch, and then he scuffs, or aims at the wrong side, or shoots too softly.
What of the longer-term perspective? How might the strategists have failed?
It’s not a matter of not having dredged the talent pool for better strikers. I doubt there are better ones. One could always scout farther afield or try out prolific scorers from the domestic league. But … I’ve watched Ecuador a long time. Even our best strikers have had miserable conversion rates with the national team.
We have no automatic scorers. No Ecuadorian believes that scoring for Ecuador is his God-given right.
Ecuadorians can believe in themselves to keep goals out, to win the ball, to pass or dribble around opponents. But tabulation is of another order.
It’s like accumulating riches. Talent, luck, and elbow grease can bring in large sums. But financial dominance requires illegal or legal ruthlessness: cheating, gouging, strongarming, or hoarding. In any case: a tremendous sense of entitlement.
For better or worse – for better, I’d say – an entitled attitude is something very few Ecuadorians have. Especially when they measure themselves, as Ecuadorians, against other nationalities.
It’s a thousand times easier for another smallish and good-willed country – Norway – to produce a goal-gobbler like Erling Haaland. Firstly, because his sort never worries about getting enough to eat. And secondly, because the Norwegians know their ancestors were Vikings. (If you don’t think old history inspires them, well, you need to watch more reels of Norwegian soccer players.)
Not that Haaland is a baddie. But one can understand why he has no trouble accepting that his destiny is to score goals.
Our next game is against Germany. Ecuador must win to advance. We could outplay the Germans. They’ve not impressed, and I really do think we’re good. But will we score?
It could happen. But it would be a miracle.
My blood ran cold very early on, after Enner’s first miss. I knew it would be almost impossible to win.
It wasn’t a matter of not creating chances. Enner had chances.
It wasn’t a deficiency of technique. Enner has technique. And he has noûs. He does brilliantly until the final touch, and then he scuffs, or aims at the wrong side, or shoots too softly.
What of the longer-term perspective? How might the strategists have failed?
It’s not a matter of not having dredged the talent pool for better strikers. I doubt there are better ones. One could always scout farther afield or try out prolific scorers from the domestic league. But … I’ve watched Ecuador a long time. Even our best strikers have had miserable conversion rates with the national team.
We have no automatic scorers. No Ecuadorian believes that scoring for Ecuador is his God-given right.
Ecuadorians can believe in themselves to keep goals out, to win the ball, to pass or dribble around opponents. But tabulation is of another order.
It’s like accumulating riches. Talent, luck, and elbow grease can bring in large sums. But financial dominance requires illegal or legal ruthlessness: cheating, gouging, strongarming, or hoarding. In any case: a tremendous sense of entitlement.
For better or worse – for better, I’d say – an entitled attitude is something very few Ecuadorians have. Especially when they measure themselves, as Ecuadorians, against other nationalities.
It’s a thousand times easier for another smallish and good-willed country – Norway – to produce a goal-gobbler like Erling Haaland. Firstly, because his sort never worries about getting enough to eat. And secondly, because the Norwegians know their ancestors were Vikings. (If you don’t think old history inspires them, well, you need to watch more reels of Norwegian soccer players.)
Not that Haaland is a baddie. But one can understand why he has no trouble accepting that his destiny is to score goals.
Our next game is against Germany. Ecuador must win to advance. We could outplay the Germans. They’ve not impressed, and I really do think we’re good. But will we score?
It could happen. But it would be a miracle.