Ecuador's World Cup hopes were finally ended on Wednesday night
as Chile celebrated their qualification to the finals with a narrow
1-0 victory in front of their jubilant home fans.
Chile came into the match safely qualified from the South American
zone after last weekend's 4-2 win over Colombia, but the picture
was rather more complex for Ecuador, who even had an outside chance
of automatic qualification at the start of play.
But all the possible permutations were rendered moot as the visitors
failed to find the goals that could have kept their World Cup
dreams alive.
Humberto Suazo's second-half strike handed Marcelo Bielsa's side
all three points, while Ecuador's misery was compounded in the
final ten minutes when Segundo Castillo received a straight red
card for an ugly challenge on Ismael Fuentes.
Despite Ecuador needing a victory to keep their hopes alive,
it was the hosts who comfortably bossed proceedings at the Estadio
Monumental in Santiago.
Ecuador's only chances of the half arrived after 28 minutes when
Christian Lara sent in a low cross but the home defence cleared,
while at the end of the half Edison Mendez flashed an effort just
wide.
The only goal of the night arrived after 52 minutes when Arturo
Vidal played the ball into the path of Suazo, who lashed home
high into the net with a right-footed shot.
The strike was Suazo's tenth of the qualifying campaign, making
him the highest scorer in the South American zone.
Ecuador's frustration at going behind soon spilled over and in
the 83rd minute they were reduced to ten men when Wolves midfielder
Castillo went in with a studs-up, waist-high challenge on Fuentes
which resulted in his inevitable dismissal.
The defeat means Ecuador have missed out on the chance of playing
at their third successive World Cup finals while Chile can now
begin preparations for their first appearance among the elite
since France 1998. |
