Ecuador must approach their World Cup clash with Curacao with “more confidence than ever”, coach Sebastián Beccacece said despite their opening Group E defeat to Ivory Coast.
La Tri were the better side for long periods in Philadelphia, hitting the woodwork several times.
Yet their well-documented struggles in front of goal continued, and they were undone by a sucker punch as Amad Diallo netted a 90th-minute winner.
Ecuador will be expected to bounce back in style against the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup.
And Beccacece urged his side to attack the task of avoiding a slip-up that could end their tournament with belief despite their poor start.
“When you don’t start the way you wanted, the anxiety appears,” said Beccacece.
“But now we need more conviction than ever, more belief than ever, more confidence than ever.”
The loser of this game will be eliminated unless Germany beat Ivory Coast in the group’s other game.
Curacao marked their debut in the tournament with a piece of history when Livano Comenencia scored their first goal at the finals to equalise against Germany.
It went downhill from there as Germany ran out 7-1 winners, but coach Dick Advocaat believes Curacao can still make it a tournament to remember for the island nation.
“We need to turn this into a beautiful tournament,” Advocaat told reporters following the Germany loss.
“We can have a surprise in the second and third match. In the end we will be glad we were part of the biggest football tournament in the world.”
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Team news for Ecuador v Curacao
Both sides came through their opening games unscathed.
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