The top historical scorer of the Ecuadorian National Team, Enner Valencia was self-critical this Tuesday after the 2-1 victory against Uruguay for Matchday 2 of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers by ensuring that the penalty he missed was a product of opening his foot too much.
In a brief meeting with the media in the dressing rooms, Valencia said that he had practiced a lot of penalties but that His failure remained a mere anecdote because in the end Ecuador achieved victorywhich in the end is what matters.
“They are penalties that I practice all week, I have taken many penalties but unfortunately my foot opened a lot“, commented the forward after the game about the maximum penalty that he sent outside the goal.
Valencia also explained the reasons for midfielder Moisés Caicedo assuming the captain’s armband in the final minutes of the match, once the Brazilian Internacional striker was substituted.
“He is one of the leaders of the group. He didn’t want to wear it, but he is very responsible, he always helps the boys and he is going to be a great captain,” Valencia predicted about the Chelsea footballer.
About the match, The historic scorer of La Tri valued the calmness he had against Uruguay so as not to despair after La Celeste took the lead on the scoreboard with a goal from Agustín Canobbio.
“We know what these kinds of games are like. You always have to be focused and not get desperate, because when you get desperate, they can score another goal.. Today we handled it well and we were able to get three points”, indicated the striker.
Valencia indicated that his assessment is positive after the first two days of the South American qualifiers, which leave Ecuador with a victory over Uruguay and a defeat against Argentina (1-0), but with 0 points since the process began with -3 units due to the sanction imposed by the Byron Castillo case.
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