GLENDALE, AZ (June 8, 2016) – It had drama. It had goals. It had a comeback. It had twitter going nuts. The Ecuadorian National Team battled back from two goals down to tie the Peruvian National Team 2-2 at University of Phoenix Stadium on Wednesday night. It sets Copa America’s Group B for a Sunday of winners take all.
Ecuador-Peru Draw Leaves Group B Wide Open
Los Incas got this match started off with a bang, scoring two goals in the opening 13 minutes. The underdogs knew a result in this match would be huge, and their stars played like it. No. 10 Christian Cueva got the scoring started in the 5th minute when captain Paolo Guerrero delivered a perfect pass to the top of the box on a counter. Cueva took a touch to nutmeg a defender, spun around, and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez.
Peru doubled their advantage in the 13th minute off a set piece. Cueva took a free kick near midfield. Guerrero won the ball in the air and found winger Edison Flores who made a similar spin-o-rama move to Cueva and scored bottom right corner.
La Tricolor looked shell shocked. In 22 minutes, they had surrendered two goals and two players on a yellow card caution. They were winning the possession battle but couldn’t get anything going forward. And as soon as they turned the ball over, Peru were off to the races with speed and numbers.
The side gradually slowed and thus calmed the game down, but was still down big on the scoreboard. Peru had gotten something special from their stars in Guerrero and Cueva. Ecuador’s stars needed to step as well.
They got their answer in the 39th minute from Enner Valencia. The man who scored every goal for Ecuador in the 2014 Word Cup ghosted between the two center backs as Antonio Valencia sent in a lobbing cross. E. Valencia chested the ball down then volleyed it straight into the back of the net.
With the deficit cut in half, Ecuador breathed a sigh of relief and settled down for the remainder of the half. The half ended 2-1 to Peru.
Ecuador started the second half the way Peru started the first half. The teams looked night-and-day different from the first half as La Tricolor leveled the match in just the 48th minute. Similar to the first goal, Ecuador pinged the ball around in the final third to break down Peru. The ball ultimately came to Christian Noboa, who chipped the ball to an on side Jefferson Montero. Montero forced the keeper to come off his line and passed to Miller Bolaños for a tap in.
While no goals were scored in the final 42 minutes, what followed was maddening and exciting. Both managers made attacking substitutions, seeking the game winning goals. The two sides traded blows like heavyweight boxers, owning possession, then losing it, and trying to counter. The emergency defending was some of the best of the tournament. The finishing, not so much.
For all the build up, both sides came up short. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Peru has to be absolutely kicking themselves after this result. They came out looking like Copa contenders and it seemed they were going to stomp on Ecuador the way Brazil smashed Haiti. Still, their counter attack showed its quality in the opening goal and in chance creation throughout the 90 minutes. The stars showed up, which will need to happen if they have any chance to beat Brazil.
Ecuador arguably outplayed Brazil in their opening match, but only managed a draw. A half hour into this one, it looked like a tournament dark horse was going home early. Gustavo Quinteros‘s squad should be given credit. They got over a disastrous start and gradually improved throughout the first half. They were clearly the better side in the second frame and the match, outshooting Peru 18-9 (6-3 on goal).
Still Ecuador weren’t able to finish off an opponent they are better than on paper. This will be a concern come the knock out stage, especially if they have to play an Argentina or Mexico. For the remainder of the group stage, they’ll probably be ok.
Which takes us to Sunday’s matches. Ecuador will play Haiti (6:30 pm EST) will what will probably be a blown out victory for the South American side. That will give them 5 points and goal differential of whatever they beat Haiti by.
Then Brazil and Peru clash at 8:30 pm EST. Both teams currently sit on 4 points. Brazil has a +6 goal differential and is in the driver’s seat to win the group. If they win on Sunday, they win the group out right. Peru has a +1 goal differential. For Peru to advance, they will need to draw Brazil and beat Ecuador on goal differential or win against Brazil out right.
As poor as Haiti was against Brazil, it’s hard to imagine them losing by six goals or more in their final game of the tournament. Ecuador must win against Haiti by more than one goal. If they win and Peru and Brazil do not draw, Ecuador are through. This is where Peru have to be especially disappointed in giving up that two goal lead.
If Ecuador beats Haiti by more than one goal, Peru must beat Brazil as they will not be able to win the tiebreaker against Ecuador on goal differential. They had a good performance against Haiti and probably would have been happy with a draw of any kind against Ecuador before the match.
This scenario sets up Group B for an exciting finish. We could see a three way tie for first place with five points. Any team besides Haiti can still advance. All three teams could still win the group.
Peru will be fighting for their tournament lives against Brazil. It should make for a helter skelter match. If it’s anything like their match against Ecuador, the fans are in for a real treat. It’s going to be lit.
