Gustavo Alfaro’s irony for the disallowed goal against Ecuador

Gustavo Alfaro is a luxury speaker. It is useless to ask him questions after Ecuador’s 2-0 win against Qatar. His definitions anticipate the needs of journalists. For example the title that gives us: “We are serene because we won, but not satisfied”. An exact definition of the debut with a victory that in goal difference, depending on how the match unfolded, sounds poor.

The Argentinian coach began by saying: “It was a very nice victory, because all World Cup matches are complicated, but the first is that it brings more pressure. You don’t know for sure how players can behave in these conditions as long as they play. we have to forget that this is the youngest team from Ecuador to qualify for a World Cup.”

Then he ruled: “It is an important step but not decisive”. As for the team’s production, he explained: “We knew about the complications involved in a debut, but what we couldn’t negotiate was our attitude and we didn’t.”

“It’s true that we have little taste, due to how the match unfolded. I think we lacked more that punch of definition when generating counter-attack situations,” he added.

When they consulted him about the goal disallowed after three minutes, he said: “The guys on the bench asked me and I said ‘there’s nothing’. Then they told me they watched the game five times and couldn’t find anything neither are they. With this new methodology the VAR proves that players will have to cut their nails…”

As for Ecuador’s future in the group, Alfaro stressed that “a team that has pretensions must be more precise to take advantage of goal situations. Holland will allow us two attacks in the whole game, one must be a goal“.

The Argentine coach underlined the youth of the team (“the immense future that Ecuador can have”) and clarified: “It was also the debut in a World Cup for the coach and we had the responsibility. I told the boys that it was a day full of emotions, with our families on the pitch, a country awaiting the match, the anthem… But I also told them that the emotions had to be before and after, because there was a match in between and they had to earn it.”

“We are serene because we won, but not satisfied. We mustn’t be confused, we are in a period of construction. I told the boys that what we did here in qualifying is not enough,” he reflected. “We still have many things to correct. At half-time I asked them if they were satisfied and they said no,” concluded the Argentinian coach who will face the Netherlands on Friday, after making comparisons with the Roman gladiators and the Spartans.

It is said: a luxury speaker.