Ecuador on verge of World Cup berth but face stern test in Peru

Brazil and Argentina are already over the line — and Ecuador will become the third World Cup qualifier from South America if they win away to Peru on Tuesday night.

It is the meeting of the teams lying third and fourth in the table — which is a tribute to the fine work of two Argentine coaches. Gustavo Alfaro came in at short notice and rescued Ecuador from a spiral of decline. They made an excellent start to the Russia 2018 qualifiers before collapsing. There were internal wranglings — at one point it was not even clear who was running the local FA. Ecuador lost their last six qualifiers, and responded by bringing back Hernan Dario Gomez, who had taken them to their first World Cup back in 2002. A disastrous 2019 Copa America ended his second reign.

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Then there was an failed project with Jordi Cruyff, who resigned before taking charge of a single game, and with youth coach Jorge Celico the team managed to lose a friendly 6-1 to an Argentina side lacking Lionel Messi. In came Alfaro. A counter-attacking coach, he was the right fit for Ecuador. He does have a promising crop of youngsters to choose from — Ecuador were South American Under-20 champions in 2019 — and he has had the courage to throw the youngsters into the deep end.

Peru boss Ricardo Gareca must envy Ecuador its youngsters. Peruvian football is not producing anything like the same quality. The only significant newcomer to the side since Russia 2018 is Gianluca Lapadula, a veteran Italian striker who belatedly chose to represent the land of his mother’s birth. But Gareca keeps on turning out a Peru side that adds up to greater than the sum of its parts. They are well coached, with clear ideas of moving the ball in possession, and a solidity in defence that is little short of amazing. In…