The Argentina vs Ecuador friendly match will take place this Friday, November 15, 2013 (5:00 PM Pacific) at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Both teams qualified to the Brazil World Cup, and will take advantage of this official FIFA match day to give a playing opportunity to some of their fringe players.
The biggest news for this match (or disappointment), is that Messi will not play due to a hamstring injury he is dealing with. Nonetheless, both Argentina and Ecuador will be counting with most of their best players. Sabella stated that Argentina will still be using the 4-3-3 formation, even though Messi will not be playing.
Argentinian head coach, Sabella, has stated that he will “give opportunities to those who have participated less and see those that never did”. Sabella is expected to line up some alternate players, he is specially looking at testing out his defensive line.
Ecuadorian head coach Reinaldo Rueda has called up all of his star players: Antonio Valencia, Jefferson Montero, Felipe Caicedo, etc. Although, Rueda has also called up players that will need to impress him if they want to earn a spot in the World Cup squad. Jayro Campos, Fernando Gaibor, Leonel Ramírez and Fidel Martrinez are the fringe players who must use the match against Argentina to impress their head coach.
Argentina vs Ecuador Prediction
Both teams will likely take full advantage of the many subs the match will allow, and we will thus see a heavy mix of the “A” players along with fringe players fighting for a spot on the team. I expect this will be a very tight match, given that both teams had the quality to qualify in the arduous South American qualifiers. Although the match will be tight, I predict Argentina will feel the absence of Messi, and Ecuador will end up with a slim 2-1 victory.
Argentina vs Ecuador TV Schedule
The Argentina vs Ecuador match will be televised on beIN Sport on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 5:00 PM Pacific.
