A ten men Ecuador left nothing unturned to win against a France team having almost half of its first choice rested. But in such a high profile match it proved well neigh impossible to overcome a one man handicap.
France fired shot after shot to Ecuadorian goal which brave Alexander Dominguez saved with agility and quick reflex actions. France was deprived of at least half a dozen of goals by the Ecuadorain goal keeper alone. But the draw made Ecuador to leave Brazil as the only South American team to exit from Brazil World Cup Empty handed.
France with 7 points from three matches topped the table and Switzerland finished second .France will now play Nigeria and Argentina will have to encounter Switzerland If Ecuador could go through to the Round of 16, then all the South American nations in this World Cup could have done so. But that did not happen. They had to play last 40 minutes with 10 men.
The team that impressed most in first two matches of the group was definitely France playing with positive intent and purpose with two straight wins and scoring as many as eight goals and conceding two. Ecuador on the other hand won one and lost one being the only South American side not sure of next round .
With France already ensuring pre quarter berth the Boss Didier Deschamps changed half his lineup from the side that beat Switzerland, 5-2, in the second group game. He took off the two starting wingbacks, perhaps to give them a rest — Patrice Evra is being replaced by Lucas Digne, a 20-year-old left-sided player from Paris St. Germain, and Mathieu Debuchy by Bacary Sagna, the right back who has just left Arsenal to transfer to Manchester City.
In the center of defense, Sakho has been deemed fit enough to start, and will partner with Koscielny. Replacing Yohan Cabaye, who’s out for accumulated yellow cards, is Morgan Schneiderlin, 24, who plays for Southampton — and wouldn’t even be here if not for the injury to Franck Ribery.
Schneiderlin was Ribery’s last-minute replacement. The other France midfielders — Paul Pogba, Blaise Matuidi and Moussa Sissoko — are regulars. France required only a draw to finish on top for avoiding playing Argentina in the next round.
Ecuador required a win to shut out Switzerland’s opportunity to advance unless Switzerland beat Honduras by larger margin. In the end Ecuador failed to win and Switzerland went ahead beating Honduras a clear margin of 3-0.
For Ecuador Enner Valencia has scored three goals in two games — the same as Benzema.
The South Americans have a sturdy and aggressive midfield, anchored by Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia (no relation to Enner) and was expected to keep Debuchy and Evra busy with counterattacks down the wings. But their central defense and, notably, the goalkeeper, Quito’s Alexander Dominguez, were less reliable.
Words got around that Switzerland took early lead on 6 th minute against Honduras made the task of Ecuador more difficult. They desperately required win or get ready for being the first South American team to exit from round one. The match witnessed end to end ball rush with neither sides winning control over the match in the first 15 minutes. No goal potential goal conceiving moves could be woven by either side during this period. Moussa Sissoko tested the Ecuadorian keeper with a long range drive in the 16th taking control though no sides looked like scoring in the first 20 minutes of the match. Antonio Valencia almost scored for Ecuador in the 41 st minute when his powerful drive rebounced from the French defence.
First half ended goal less. It was a pretty even game. The almost second string French team failed to demonstrate the attacking flair of their previous two games. Very little clear opportunity created. France has no reason to feel uncomfortable but time is running out for Ecuador. If the match ends nil nil, that will not serve Ecuador purpose. Ecuador must score and win as Switzerland is already leading Honnduras 2-0 at half time.
Ecuador was not pushing the ball wide and exploiting the situation when France was giving their bench a taste of the big event France drew the first blood in the very first minute of the second half when a desperate save of Dominguez kept the ball out of his net. Ecuadorian captain Antonio Valencia got red card in the 50th minute reducing Ecuador to 10 men.
The decision of Ivory Coast referee will be argued a bit harsh by few. Ecuador got a very good opportunity when Enner Valencia ran deep into French defence but shot wide from vintage position. Monero got another opportunity in the 57 th minute when he failed to give the final touch . Benzama engineered a move next for the French which was effectively blocked by Ecuadorian defence wall. Dominguez again saved his team when Benzama fired a fierce right footer in the 61 st minute. As time went on the 10 men against 11 started showing up. In such a keen contest it is not easy to overcome the one man handicap.
Pogba, Schneiderling, Benzama and Sissoko sweetly combined to rip open Ecuadorian defence time and again. Door for Ecuadorian started closing slowly as every minute ticked off. Series of French attack in Ecuadorian territory. Pogba failed to head home from a Corner with Ecuadorian keeper out of position. With Switzerland taking 3-0 lead against Honduras in the other match the Ecuadorian fate started hanging on a balance with only the last quarter of an hour of the match to play.
Ecuador could keep the French strikers at bay mainly through a superb keeping of Dominguez saving at least 6 goal potential strikes. But they also could not score. The 0-0 score here and 3-0 score line in favor of Switzerland against Honduras meant that Ecuador became the only South American team to leave early from the event held in their continent.
Ecuador: Alexander Dominguez, Juan Paredes,Walter Ayoví,Osvaldo Minda, Jorge Guagua, Frickson Erazo, Antonio Valencia,Christhian Noboa, Enner Valencia, Michael Arroyo and Jefferson Montero.
France: Hugo Lloris, Bacary Sagna, Lucas Digne,Morgan Schneiderlin, Laurent Koscielny, Mamadou Sakho, Paul Pogba,Blaise Matuidi, Karim Benzema, Moussa Sissoko and Antoine Griezmann.
BDST: 0717 HRS, JUNE 26, 2014
