Ecuador’s South Americans got off to a good start against the Desert Maroons (Qatar) on Sunday. After the traditional opening ceremony mixing political and sports speeches, shows or staging highlighting the Qatari culture, the host country (Qatar), crossed swords with Ecuador under the whistles of the Italian referee Daniele Orsato, at the Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor, in front of 60,000 spectators, mostly dedicated to the cause of the local team.

After a very boring first quarter of an hour, the Qataris cracked at the sixteenth minute, on a goal of the Ecuadorian captain Enner Valencia, on penalty. A Qatari formation incapable on the tactical and physical plan, encased a second goal shortly after the 2nd quarter of the match, that is to say in the 31st, by the inevitable Enner Valencia. The captain of the mechanical banana scored his second goal of the game.

The two formations delivered a second part more or less animated, but the attackers were very clumsy in the last gestures.

The “Tri” led by the Argentine coach Gustavo Julio Alfaro, has won an important victory and occupies for the moment the first place of the group A, with three points, while waiting for the second game of the group which opposes this Monday Senegal to the Netherlands.

Qatar becomes the first team to lose its first game as host of the World Cup.

Special mention for Enner Valencia. Captain scorer of Ecuador, player of Fenerbahçe of Turkey, aged 33 years and 16 days. He matched the Russian Dennis Cheryshev, who scored twice against Saudi Arabia in the opening of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Veteran Enner Valencia did not come close to a hat-trick, already in the 3rd minute, he had his goal disallowed by the VAR for a slight offside. He remains the top scorer of the Ecuadorian selection with 39 goals in 75 caps.