An Undeserved Draw: Ecuador v. Brazil

Ecuador clearly deserved the three points in this match. They outshot Brazil 22-8, and dominated possession for most of the match. Julio Cesar’s brilliance prevented Brazil from losing this match 4-1. Christian Benítez, the Ecuadorian forward who plays for Mexican club Santos, was the man of the match. Brazil had a tremendous amount of problems attempting to contain him.

The first half for Brazil was simply awful. The team looked completely lethargic and disorganized from the opening whistle. This could have easily been a 2-0 match in favor of the Ecuadorians by halftime. Ecuador was playing with great width, especially on the right side of the pitch, which completely neutralized Marcelo. Other than Felipe Melo and Robinho, the team looked like they were just overwhelmed. There were countless turnovers, poor passes, and a physical dominance inflicted on Brazil.

The second half was marginally better after Ronaldinho came off for Julio Baptista. Ronaldinho was extremely poor today, giving the ball away frequently, and out of sync in his passing. I was going to write an post on this topic, but I’ll just state it now…the Ronaldinho era is definitely over. He has a role on this team still, just not a starting one. The organization in the midfield was instantly better when he came off the pitch, even if it was an average midfielder in Julio Baptista who came on for him.

Here are the player ratings for this match:

Starters:

Julio Cesar 8.5, This match could have gotten out of control if not for him. Another brilliant performance from the keeper.

Marcelo, 5.5, He was completely taken out of the game in the first half, outside of a shot he had early in the match. He was more effective in the attack after the half, however, this was not one of his better performances.

Luisao, 5, He is the new Roque Junior. Tall and physical, but completely reckless at the same time. He was extremely shaky the entire match.

Lucio, 5, He too had a poor match, and along was caught asleep when Ecuador tied late in the match.

Maicon, 6, He was effective before an injury during the first half caused him to be substituted.

Felipe Melo, 6.5, He was solid and was one of the few bright spots in a dark first half for Brazil.

Elano, 4, He was AWOL for this one. This was his poorest performance for the national team in quite some time. He gave the ball up several times, and was substituted for Josue of all people in the second half.

Gilberto Silva, 4.5, He was completely ineffective in this match. Ecuador’s forwards were allowed to run free partially due to him.

Ronaldinho, 3, See above. Hopefully Kaka is ready for Peru.

Robinho, 7, He was pretty active and was the rare spark in the Brazilian attack.

Luis Fabiano, 6, He nearly put Ecuador away late in the second half. However, he did not get many touches, and committed a careless foul that was nearly a penalty kick

Subs:

Dani Alves, 5.5, He was effective in the attack, mediocre in the defense.

Josue, 4, Just when I thought we would never see him play again! He did what he always does…foul and give up the ball.

Julio Baptista, 7, Things got much better when he came on. He scored Brazil’s only goal within seconds of coming on.

Team Lineups:

Ecuador: Jose Cevallos, Giovanny Espinoza, Neicer Reasco, Walter Ayovi, Ivan Hurtado, Deison Mendez, Luis Valencia, Segundo Castillo, Joffre Guerron, Felipe Caicedo and Cristian Benitez.

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Luizao, Marcelo, Maicon (Dani Alves 23′), Lucio, Ronaldinho (Julio Baptista 71′), Gilberto Silva, Elano (Josue 61′), Felipe Melo, Luis Fabiano and Robinho.

Goals: Julio Baptista (72′), Cristian Noboa (88′)

Yellow Cards: Elano (44′), Gilberto Silva (68′), Segundo Castillo (76′), Marcelo (78′), Daniel Alves (82′)

Referee: Carlos Chandia (Chile)

Venue: Atahualpa, Quito. Att: 40,000