Ecuadorian Football Federation president Luis Chiriboga Acosta is imploring his team to improve their poor recent Copa America record.
Gustavo Quinteros men head to Chile having not reached the quarter-finals of the continental tournament since 1997, bowing out in the first stage in five straight events.
Ecuador, who will compete in Group A alongside hosts Chile, Mexico and Bolivia, are without Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia and Emelec s Angel Mena for the showpiece.
But Acosta said it was time Ecuador stood up at the Copa, after limp showings of late.
Ecuador finished bottom of their group in 1999, 2004, 2007 and 2011, while they also failed to go beyond the group stages in 2001 winning just one of 15 matches in five tournaments.
Ther…
Trent Alexander-Arnold has never experienced a more intense Premier League title race than the one this season despite only being 13 games into 2021-22.
Chelsea lead defending champions Manchester City by one point, with third-placed Liverpool just two off Thomas Tuchel s Champions League winners.
All three teams will be in action on Wednesday, with Chelsea at Watford and Manchester City visiting Aston Villa, while the Reds make the short trip to Everton for the Merseyside derby.
Liverpool may be unbeaten in their last 10 top-flight visits to Goodison Park, but Alexander-Arnold appreciates his side cannot afford to relinquish ground on the top two.
Asked whether he had experienced a more competitive title race, the right-back told Liverpool s website: No,…
Spanish radio Onda Cero is reporting that Barcelona have agreed a shock deal for Almeria forward Jose Angel Pozo.
The Catalans reportedly had a €3 million bid accepted, and the transfer should be wrapped up in the coming days.
Bar any surprises, Pozo will initially be added to the Barcelona B squad, where he will get a chance to prove he deserves an opportunity in the first team.
Jose Angel Pozo had come through the youth ranks at Real Madrid, and he eventually joined Man City in a £2.4 million deal as a 15-year-old.
After failing to prove his worth in England, the winger signed for Almeria in the summer of 2015 and has since been showing signs of promise.
However, having scored mere 6 goals in 83 second division matches, Pozo will have to imp…
Jose Mourinho has scoffed at the idea of football s controversial handball rule being changed to allow referees to take a subjective view of incidents.
Tottenham boss Mourinho was furious when Newcastle United were awarded a stoppage-time penalty against his team last Sunday, with Eric Dier having his back turned when Andy Carroll s header struck him on the arm.
Referee Peter Bankes gave the spot-kick following a VAR check and after consulting a pitchside monitor, with Dier the latest player to suffer under the handball rule amendments introduced to the Premier League this season. Newcastle capitalised to snatch a 1-1 draw.
The rules now dictate that players will be penalised when defending if the ball strikes them on a hand or arm that is away from the body or …
West Ham are on the verge of signing centre-back Kader Mangane from Rennes, .
The Hammers have just returned to the Premier League after spending one season in the Championship and they have been very busy in the summer transfer window.
Jussi Jaaskelainen, Mohamed Diame and Stephen Henderson have all arrived to Boleyn Ground, but the recruitment looks likely to continue.
According to L’Equipe, West Ham are in advanced talks with Rennes to sign defender Kader Mangane.
The Senegalese international is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in French Ligue 1 and he could leave les Bretons are spending four years at Stade de la Route de Lorient.
Mangane joined Rennes in a €2 million deal from Lens in August 2008 and has since amassed 102 Lig…
Mikel Arteta hailed “superb” Kai Havertz after his performance in Arsenal’s Community Shield penalty shoot-out win over Manchester City.
Having joined from London rivals Chelsea in the summer, Havertz was deployed as Arsenal’s central striker as a last-gasp Leandro Trossard equaliser took the game to penalties.
Cole Palmer had put City ahead before Trossard’s effort took a huge deflection off Manuel Akanji, the 1-1 draw meaning a shoot-out was required at Wembley – Arsenal going on to lift the Shield after a 4-1 success.
Havertz has primarily been recruited to play in an advanced midfield role for the Gunners but, with Gabriel Jesus injured, the Germany forward reverted to a central role.
He was a thorn in the side of the City defence for much…
Portuguese daily newspaper that Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan is edging closer to leaving Estadio da Luz in the summer.
The 27-year-old recently extended his deal with the Eagles, but his release clause was lowered to €35 million.
Benfica appear ready to cash in on their prized asset, although they are referring all interested sides to said clause.
Spanish giants Valencia lead the chase at the moment, with los Che doing plenty of business with the Portuguese club of late.
However, Manchester United, Cheslea and Monaco are also keeping close tabs on the highly rated footballer, which is enough to suggest he is unlikely to remain at Estadio da Luz beyond the summer.
Nico Gaitan has been with Benfica since 2010 and has so far managed 30 goals and…
suggests that Hamburg are ready to step up their interest in Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart.
The Dutchman has been constantly linked with a move to the side over the summer transfer window but it looked as though the deal had fallen through recently.
It is of course the club where van der Vaart played from 2005-2008 and the fans would surly love to have him back.
However, the Holland international stated last month that he was happy at Spurs and wanting to help them mount a challenge to finish in the top four of the English Premier League.
That said though, he may now have some concerns over his future after finding himself on the bench in the North London sides opening match of the season against Newcastle.
If Hamburg did want to sign the…
Chelsea s 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Southampton on Saturday left the defending Premier League champions on their lowest top-flight points total after eight games since the 1978-79 season.
That damning statistic is just one of many that make grim reading for Jose Mourinho:
Southampton became the first team to score three or more goals at Stamford Bridge against a Jose Mourinho team in the Premier League.
Chelsea have conceded at least two goals in seven of their eight Premier League games this season (the other game was a 2-0 win against Arsenal).
Chelsea have conceded as many goals in their last four PL home games (seven) as they had in the previous 17 at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have eight points from eight games. No team h…
Tito Vilanova has backed under-fire goalkeeper Victor Valdes as the Barcelona coach looked forward to Sunday s clash with Osasuna.
The Catalan giants go into the encounter following the 3-2 first-leg win of their Super Cup tie against Real Madrid, but their task of lifting the first domestic silverware of the season has been made more difficult because of Valdes error, which gifted the capital side a late second goal.
However, speaking at a press conference, Vilanova insisted Valdes error has been blown out of proportion and reminded critics of the goalkeeper s role in helping the side to three successive Liga crowns between 2009 and 2011.
It surprises me that Victor is being doubted, even though we have won three Liga titles thanks to him, the Barca coach said…