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Manchester United’s Valencia highlights Ecuador squad for friendly with USMNT

Valencia (Getty Images)

Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia highlights the roster that Ecuador announced for its upcoming World Cup qualifier against Venezuela and friendly against the U.S. national team. Veteran midfielder Edison Mendez is also part of the group as is winger Jefferson Montero, a former teammate of Jozy Altidore at Villarreal.

Here is the squad that Ecuador will be bringing to face the United States at Red Bull Arena on Oct. 11:

GOALKEEPERS - Máximo Bangüera (Barcelona SC), Alexander Domínguez (Liga de Quito), Adrián Bone (Deportivo Quito).

DEFENDERS – Gabriel Achilier (Emelec), Diego Calderón (Liga de Quito), Fricson Erazo (El Nacional), Eduardo Morante (Emelec), Jairo Campos (Deportivo Quito), Juan Carlos Paredes (Deportivo Quito), Walter Ayoví (Monterrey), Giovanny Caicedo (Liga de Quito).

MIDFIELDERS – Alex Bolaños (Deportivo Quito), Segundo Castillo (Pachuca), Edison Méndez (Emelec), Jéfferson Montero (Real Betis), Cristhian Noboa (Rubin Kazan), Luis Saritama (Deportivo Quito), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United). 

FORWARDS – Michael Arroyo (San Luis), Jaime Ayoví (Pachuca), Christian Benítez (América), Joffre Guerrón (Atlético Paranaense), Cristian Suárez (Santos).

What do you think of the squad? Think the U.S. fullbacks will be able to handle Ecuador's pace on the wings? Do you expect the United States to win the match?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. ignorant statement….as a follower of world soccer and an in depth knoledge of all of ecuadors players…im pretty sure their squad is stronger then ours. faster and more skillful…and one more thing, the best player on the pitch is Ecuadorian.(we know who he is) and no other U.S. player comes close.

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  2. I know the Farfan bros. are inexperienced, but I definitely saw positives against Real Madrid in the friendly (Gabe shutting down Kaka a few times). Also, they will be too old for the Olympic team as they’re both 23 now. I’m all for holding out for the Olympics on players like Josh Gatt who will be eligible.

    Given our sparseness at fullback, it might not hurt to take a look at one of the Farfans (probably Gabriel since he has more experience) in a camp sooner than later. People keep throwing out “the January camp,” but unlike 2011, we have WCQ starting in 2012. The earlier we give possible players a look, the sooner we can get an idea of how the WCQ squad will look.

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  3. I was thinking of Loyd at RB or LB. In his one US cap there he won MoTM.

    I know he’s not a natural LB, but going forward it looks like the USMNT will have to settle for the fullback who can handle the left side the best.

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  4. I’m interested to see how we handle Chucho! Ecuador has a great player on each line. Not sure abpout the rest of the team. I so WISH Caicedo was in the line up. Chucho and Caicedo would have been a big test for our back line.

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  5. “bradley always seemed to wait until the last possible moment to release his rosters.”

    Would you prefer the US list come out at the same time as Ecuador’s for example and then have several revisions and amendments all the way up to game day as players pull out for injuries, club committments, family emergencies etc.?

    Or would you rather just have one list that was more or less pretty set?

    Since there are almost always all kinds of changes especialy when you issue the list this far ahead I don’t know why teams bother.

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  6. id say thats close to our starting XI

    excited about actually seeing a starting XI with our most of our best in good/starting at club form.

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  7. This squad is strong even without valencia. This roster is pretty close to what their coach will use for the WCQ. Rueda is also familiar with the American mentality and play (on the field) after coaching honduras.

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  8. your nuts if you think Holden is ready for a comeback to the Nats. He hasn’t even made his first team return at Bolton yet (Carling Cup aside–wasn’t the FULL first team anyway so that’s why I’m not counting it)

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  9. I know several of those players from Ecuador and they’re pretty good. This team is much stronger than Costa Rica. It’ll be interesting to watch, regardless of the result.

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  10. Not what I was implying chief. I was just commenting that bradley always seemed to wait until the last possible moment to release his rosters.

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  11. I’d say he’s earning his stripes in Philly right now quite well. In his last match he was a difference maker. I’m not saying he’s ready to replace howard, but I think he’s showing that he merits a callup.

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  12. ok ok ok it’s far fetched I admit, I’m sure we’ll see older players in the mix… but i think that lineup has potential… anyway back to reality

    ———Altidore———–
    Donovon—–Dempsey—-Shea
    ———Bradley–Edu——–
    Chandler -Goodson Boca –dolo
    ———Howard————

    subs: Hamid, Gomez, Agudelo, Bedoya, Adu, Beasely, Holden, Beckerman, Spector, Onyewu, Cameron, Whitbread, Parkhurst

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  13. I’m pretty sure Bradley’s job (now Klinsi’s) wasn’t to make sure that the people on the Soccer By Ives message boards had the roster when it was convenient to them.

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  14. “Felipao” as he’s ofetn referred to has an ongoing rift with Ecuador’s coach and the soccer federation president and has opted out.

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  15. Lloyd is just too dang small for CB. I wouldn’t mind trying him at LB, but, in general, I’d put him behind Lichaj and Chandler in that spot. Def time to see if John is quick enough for Intnl ball.

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  16. the Farfan brothers would be interesting.. conventionally i would think wait for the January camp.. but i havent seen enough Philly games to make any statement.

    the 3 Dallas/Houston defenders should get a call also maybe Franklin from LA. The recent revivals of Onyewu and Spector should be noticed as well.

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  17. well if he follows his stated plan we should see more than a few olympic hopefuls, whihc I think is usually like a U-23 squad, right? If so here’s my 24:

    keepers: Hamid, McMath
    defenders: D. Williams, S. Williams, Opara, Kitchen, Chandler, Hot, Agbossoumonde
    midfileders: Adu, Shea, Diskerud, Gatt, Jeffrey, Gil, Corona, Hurzeler, Renken
    forwards: Boyd, Altidore, Bunbury, Taylor, Doyle, Wood.

    how would they line up? well…

    —Bunbury–Altidore–Boyd–

    Shea—-Adu—Diskerrud–Gatt

    S. Williams–D. Williams–Chandler

    ————Hamid————-

    could they defend? who knows? could they score? you betcha!

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  18. And Ecuador just beat Costa Rica home and away lol but Ecuador has a strong squad, lots of skill. It will be a good test, why didnt they call Felipe Caicedo?

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  19. Hopefully we can bring in some fresh blood for the back line. It would be nice to give Geoff Cameron, George John, Zach Loyd (provided he’s good to go after the knock he took last weekend) and the Farfan brothers a look.

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  20. …”one of the weakest national teams in South America…”

    Sorry, JP, but that does not instill a lot of confidence in me if we can’t beat Costa Rica, Panama, etc. Just sayin’

    Reply

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