The story of the World Cup qualifying campaign in South America so far has been Ecuador’s surprising surge in the opening rounds, winning their first three matches to stand alone atop the CONMEBOL rankings. Yes, above Chile, and Uruguay, and Brazil and Argentina. They’ve been incredibly impressive early on in qualifying, and another big win could see them start pulling further clear from the field.
Venezuela vs. Ecuador 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch World Cup qualifying online
It’s first against last in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying action, as surprise leaders Ecuador visit winless Venezuela.
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Obviously there’s still lots of matches to be played, and plenty of opportunity for Ecuador to start losing. Venezuela will be hoping to start slowing their momentum, and pick up their first qualifying points in the process. Venezuela actually haven’t been bad at all in qualifying so far, they just haven’t been good enough to get results yet. If they can get the home crowd rocking and start parlaying their quality play into both goals and solid defense -- a combination that has eluded them so far -- they might just be the first team to take points off Ecuador.
Key Venezuela player -- Tomas Rincon
With Venezuela facing a team with a lethal counter attack, job one for their midfield will be to prevent it by holding as much possession as possible, and job two will be to slow that break down as much as possible when it does happen. Rincon will be vital for both tasks, as his workhorse style in midfield allows him to plug holes and provide an outlet all over the pitch. He’s also Venezuela’s captain, so expect to see him directing traffic in midfield as he reads and tries to react to Ecuador’s efforts to catch his team off guard.
Key Ecuador player -- Walter Ayovi
Ayovi may be 36 years old, but Ecuador’s captain is still chugging along and playing matches. He’s also going to be very important for them in this match, with Ecuador likely to lean heavily on their lightning-fast counter. Ayovi himself won’t be a part of that, but his skill and leadership on the back line will be needed to help win the ball back and keep Ecuador from giving up a goal, so that they can afford to sit back and launch counters when the time is right instead of pushing forward chasing a lead. His skill on set pieces could come into play as well, because it’s inevitable that Ecuador will get a few from desperation fouls and clearances giving them free kicks and corners.
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 4 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. local
Venue: Estadio Cachamay, Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela
TV: Merediano Television (Venezuela), TC Television, Gamavision (Ecuador), TyC Sports Internacional (South America)
Online: beIN Sport Connect (U.S.)
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