Ecuador 2, Germany 1

As one would expect.

That’s Gonzalo Plata poking the ball past Manuel Neuer, after Kevin Rodríguez’s flick-on. This was our winning goal, in minute 77.

Nilson Angulo had leveled the score in the ninth minute. He was assisted by Pedro Vite.

Immortals.

Disgraced: Tori Penso (referee, USA) and Joe Dickerson (VAR assistant, USA) for allowing Germany’s goal to stand although Germany had fouled Vite.

Our reaction was tremendous. We overcame the Germans and officials and claimed our just reward. The yellow-clad New Jersey crowd was overjoyed. Our players, so harshly criticized, were overjoyed. I was overjoyed, as were my parents and siblings and our spouses; we all watched together.

Just before the winning goal, I was holding Abel, and I thought, When the ball goes in, I’ll try to avoid shouting, so as not to frighten him. Please, God, let him not be frightened. Ecuador scored, I shouted – we all shouted – and Abel was calm, so calm, greeting the occasion as a matter of course.

I got a little misty when you all shouted, Karin said afterward. She suffered before the game, worrying she’d have to bear a houseful of anguished in-laws. No doubt our friends felt the same. Then the game ended and our phones exploded with congratulations.

Facebook reel: tying goal.

Facebook reel: winning goal. (Dale con fe.)

Facebook reel: winning goal. (Gol hjpta.)

Facebook reel: postgame. (Una moneda.)

Ecuador 4, Bolivia 0

With an eye on their upcoming home match against Paraguay, the Bolivians rested almost all of their starters. They brought a team of youngsters to Ecuador.

One of them committed an atrocious handball in the penalty box.

Not a good strategy in the Era of VAR.

Red card.

Penalty kick converted – barely – by Enner Valencia … who, two minutes later, assisted Gonzalo Plata.

Game over.

This was a cakewalk for us. I’ve never seen a game handed over quite so blatantly.

“Not a real game,” said the Peruvians who narrated my broadcast. I agree.

I had prayed for an anxiety-free contest. Boy, wasn’t it ever. It was dull.

After the fourth goal, and with half an hour remaining, we brought on a handful of subs who ran around like headless chickens, trying to score. They didn’t.

It could have been five, six, seven goals.

We’ve played eleven games; scored only ten goals (four of them last night); stayed comfortably within the qualification zone. Failed to inspire. I’ve yet to enjoy any of our matches. Our defenders are superb. Our attackers are bottomless wells of disappointment. The coaches tried too hard to defend early in the cycle, and we never got into a goalscoring groove.

We’ll play in Colombia on Tuesday. That might be our hardest remaining contest.

Ecuador 6, Colombia 1

An historic victory against one of our toughest rivals, who beat us twice in the previous World Cup qualification cycle (3–1 and 2–0). I figured we’d lose or draw this time, especially since some of our players were sidelined due to COVID.

I needn’t have worried. We scored twice in the first ten minutes. By the end of the game, the Colombians had suffered their worst defeat in World Cup qualification since Brazil thrashed them, 6 to 0, in 1977.

Every goal was scored by a different player. Our precocious winger, Gonzalo Plata, was ejected for taking off his shirt after he scored goal number five.

Ecuador 4, Uruguay 2

Well, that went better than I expected.

Our first goal came early, while the Uruguayans, ranked sixth in the world, were still just trying to defend. It brought them out of their half of the field for the rest of the game and made them vulnerable to counterattacks.

We poached the second goal on halftime’s stroke.

Our third goal assured our victory moments after the second half began. VAR had just rescinded a goal of Uruguay’s.

(By the end of the game, VAR would disallow three goals and award one penalty.)

Gonzalo Plata, one of the Sub-20 World Cup’s heroes, scored our fourth goal with panache. Like other important contributors to this game, he was trained at Independiente del Valle.

(And I’d worried that these youngsters would lack the composure and confidence to score.)

Uruguay scored its two goals with late penalty kicks.

So: after two games, we’re in fifth place. We have three points, four goals in favor, and three against (all penalties). And the crucial home fixture against Uruguay is behind us.

Suddenly …
there were much bigger worlds again …
and some small place in them for me.