The coach of the Ecuadorian national team, the Colombian Hernán «el Bolillo» Gómez, did not want to make excuses for his team’s 4-3 defeat against Qatar, although he admitted that the trip to the Arabian Peninsula was an element that weighed on the legs of his men.
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«Qatar was physically superior, we lost in one-on-one. It wasn’t a good game, there’s no need to apologize, but you feel the journey and that’s why there’s no coordination and there are turnovers,» Gómez said at a press conference after the match.
«Today’s difficulties were above all physical, they were faster, they looked like a Mercedes and we looked like a Renault 4. We didn’t have enough work to provide tactical coordination for the team,» he said.
The Ecuadorian team also had to play outnumbered in the final part of the match due to the expulsion of Frickson Erazo, who was accompanied by Valencia when the match ended.
«When you don’t feel good physically, you lose your mind, it wasn’t a good day for us in physical condition, things didn’t work out for us, it wasn’t a suitable day to give a good level,» he added.
The Colombian coach praised the performance of the team led by Spanish coach Félix Sánchez, who showed organization and quick reaction capacity in counterattack throughout the match: «I saw a fast, precise team, organized tactically, I would have liked to see it against a better rival because today we were not», he sentenced.