scoreline – as was the 2-2 draw away to Germany.
Some problems do remain, however. There is a
worrying dearth of top-class defenders, and backed
by the Dortmund crowd the Germans took quick
advantage to go two goals ahead. Scaloni, though,
read the game well and made an adjustment at the
interval, switching from a back four to a line of three,
stopping the Germans higher up the field and giving
his side the platform to snatch a draw.
Results, of course, are never the be all and end
all of friendly matches, and events over the past two
months will be quickly forgotten as soon as the next
World Cup qualifying campaign gets underway in
March. But there is a chance coming up to measure
the respective progress of Brazil and Argentina as
they meet in Saudi Arabia on November 15.
For the continent’s other sides, the November
FIFA dates are the only chance to warm up at full
strength – hence the fact there is a sense of urgency
as Ecuador look to announce a big-name coach.
Ecuador’s quest to reach Russia 2018 started
brightly, but became derailed along the way. The first
reaction was to re-appoint Hernan Dario Gomez, the
veteran Colombian coach who took Ecuador to their
first World Cup in 2002, but it was a controversial
choice as he had been in charge of Panama when
they lost 6-1 to England and many felt that was a
less than adequate audition. Gomez then got himself
into trouble by downplaying the importance of the
recent Copa, and when his team performed badly- thrashed by Uruguay, beaten by Chile, held by an
experimental Japan – he was dismissed.
The latest name in the frame to replace him
is Germany’s Jurgen Klinsmann, with whom the
Ecuadorian Football Federation has reportedly been
negotiating for some time.
This is a bold move as Klinsmann will not come
cheap, with the local media speculating he will cost
three times as much as Gomez. And there is also
an easy line for criticism, with the suspicion that
he might spend most of his time in California.
However, Ecuador are the reigning South American
under-20 champions, with a side that claimed
third place in the recent World Cup at that level,
so there would be some interesting raw material
for Klinsmann to work with.
If agreement is reached with the Ecuadorian FA,
it will be intriguing to see what he does with it.
WORLD SERVICE
- to reach a century of caps for
Venezuela as they beat Trinidad
& Tobago 2-0 in a friendly.
Tuesday October 15
CANADA: A 2-0 win in their
opening CONCACAF Nations
League game is Canada’s first
victory over the USA since a
friendly in 1985 and ends a
17-match losing run against
their North American rivals.
EURO 2020: Substitute Rodrigo
turns in Fabian Ruiz’s 92nd-minute
cross to earn Spain a 1-1 draw in
Sweden and pick up the point they
require to qualify.
GERMANY: Turkish midfielder Cenk
Sahin is released by 2.Bundesliga
side St Pauli after he posts a
message on social media in support
of his country’s military action in
northern Syria.
NORTH KOREA: Hosting South
Korea on home soil for the first
time in nearly three decades,
North Korea draw 0-0 with their
neighbours in a World Cup qualifier.
The game is played in an empty
Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang
with a complete media blackout.Wednesday October 16
EGYPT: The Egyptian Football
Association postpones Saturday’s
Cairo derby between Al Ahly and
Zamalek for security reasons.Thursday October 17
SPAIN: La Liga asks the Spanish
Football Federation (RFEF) for
permission to stage December’s
fixture between Atletico Madrid and
Villarreal in Miami. Both clubs have
agreed to the proposal to play the
game at Miami Dolphins’ Hard
Rock Stadium.Friday October 18
BULGARIA: National coach
Krassimir Balakov resigns four days
after Bulgaria’s Euro 2020 loss to
England was overshadowed by
racism from home supporters. After
the match finished Balakov claimed
he “didn’t hear anything” but later
said: “If this is proven to be true,
then we have to be ashamed and
we have to apologise for it.”
ITALY: US Citta di Palermo, the
side that finished fifth in Serie A
three times during the 2000s and
reached the Coppa Italia Final in
2011, officially ceases to exist after
32 years as the bankruptcy court
of Palermo accepts a request from
prosecutors to declare the club
insolvent. A phoenix team, SSD
Palermo, now play in Serie D.
SPAIN: El Clasico between