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Quito (Ecuador), May 31 (IANS) Brazil-based forwards Enner Valencia and Gonzalo Plata have been included in Ecuador’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Peru despite injury concerns, the Ecuadorian football federation said on Friday.

Internacional’s Valencia has missed the Porto Alegre club’s past six games due to a hamstring strain, while Flamengo’s Plata has been sidelined since April with a knee injury, reports Xinhua.

“They are in a complicated situation but they are currently in the process of recovering,” Ecuador manager Sebastian Beccacece told reporters.

The Argentine coach recalled Leonardo Campana and Angelo Preciado, who missed Ecuador’s last double header of qualifiers in March with injuries.

As expected, the 28-man squad includes Brighton left-back Pervis Estupinan, Paris Saint-Germain center-back Willian Pacho and Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie.

Ecuador will meet Brazil in Guayaquil on June 5 and Peru in Lima five days later.

Beccacece’s men are currently second in the 10-team South American group with four qualifiers remaining. The top six teams will automatically qualify for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada while the seventh-ranked side will dispute a playoff.

Ecuador squad:

Goalkeepers: Hernan Galindez, Moises Ramirez, David Cabezas, Gonzalo Valle.

Defenders: Pervis Estupinan, Cristian Ramirez, Xavier Arreaga, Willian Pacho, Piero Hincapie, Joel Ordonez, Felix Torres, Angelo Preciado.

Midfielders: Bryan Ramirez, Jhegson Mendez, Alan Franco, Moises Caicedo, Pedro Vite, Kendry Paez, Alan Minda, Yaimar Medina, Gonzalo Plata, John Yeboah, Jhon Mercado, Nilson Angulo, Denil Castillo.

Forwards: Leonardo Campana, Kevin Rodriguez, Enner Valencia.

–IANS

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Navi Mumbai, April 6 (IANS) In a landmark moment for Indian sports, Real Madrid Leyendas came out victorious by 2-0 against the FC Barcelona Legends as the two iconic football giants reignited their iconic rivalry on April 6 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, as part of the much-anticipated ‘Legends Faceoff’.

The venue was buzzing with energy, as thousands of passionate fans packed the stands to witness footballing royalty in action. The electric atmosphere, filled with cheers and chants, added to the grandeur of this historic occasion.

Morientes opened the scoring for Real Madrid Leyendas in the 14th minute, capitalizing on a well-worked move orchestrated by Luis Figo and Michael Owen. The second half of the much-awaited Legends Faceoff saw the intensity rise as FC Barcelona Legends pushed hard to break through the Real Madrid defence. With the crowd roaring them on, they turned up the heat, launching wave after wave of attacks. Just as Barcelona looked closest to scoring, Real Madrid Legends doubled their lead in the 69th minute. A moment of brilliance from David Barral saw him skip past two legendary defenders—Carles Puyol and Frank de Boer—before calmly slotting the ball past the goalkeeper. The strike further energized the Madrid camp and left the crowd at DY Patil Stadium in awe.

Fans in Mumbai had a memorable night filled with nostalgia, skill, and footballing greatness. With legends rolling back the years, the match was a perfect celebration of football’s timeless charm.

Barcelona Legends squad: Carles Puyol (C), Jesús Angoy, Vítor Baía, Jofre Mateu, Fernando Navarro, Roberto Trashorras, Javier Saviola, Phillip Cocu, Frank de Boer, Giovanni Silva, Rivaldo, Marc Valiente Hernández, Ludovic Giuly, Ricardo Quaresma, Gaizka Mendieta, Sergi Barjuán, Xavi Hernandez, José Edmílson Gomes de Moraes, Patrick Kluivert.

Real Madrid Leyendas squad: Figo (C), Pedro Contreras, Kiko Casilla, Francisco Pavón, Fernando Sanz, Agustin Garcia, Pedro Munitis, Rubén de la Red, Antonio ‘Toni’ del Moral Segura, Jorge Zoco Ostiz, Iván Pérez, Jesús Enrique Velasco Muñoz, José Luis Cabrera, Juan José Olalla Fernández, David Barral Torres, Christian Karembeu, Fernando Morientes, Pepe, Michael Owen.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS) Former Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch believes the hosts’ will not go in with Mitchell Marsh in their playing eleven for the upcoming final Test against India at Sydney, and wishes to see uncapped Beau Webster in his place.

Marsh has bowled just 33 overs in the series and picked only three wickets. With the bat, Marsh has endured a lean time, scoring just 73 runs at an average of 10.42, with the highest score being 47 in the second innings in Perth Test.

“Well, I think probably with the amount of overs that he’s bowling at the moment, you’d have to make a case that he wouldn’t be. Just a pure output of runs, averaging 10, I think, for the series – it’s not up to the mark. I heard Andrew McDonald the other day said it’s not what they were wanting from Mitch, especially in that number six role where you can have such an impact on a game.”

“But I mean, the team’s winning, and what winning does is it allows you to stick longer with players that might be slightly out of form because you’ve seen them at their absolute best. So for me, I think it’d be a really hard decision, but I don’t think that they’ll go with him and I think that Beau Webster will come in,” said Finch on ESPN’s ‘Around the Wicket’ show.

Similar views were expressed by former Australia player Callum Ferguson. “I think that’s my gut call as well. You’ve got to look at the workload that the bowlers have shared throughout the series, and there was a Test match there where we lost Josh Hazlewood early in the Test. So the guys had to pick up a huge workload there. So I think for the fast bowling brigade, I think they need that extra support going into this Test match.”

Asked if left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc would be fine after clutching his side in the fag end of Australia’s thrilling 184-run victory in the fourth Test in Melbourne, which gave them a 2-1 series lead, Finch stated, “I don’t think that he’ll miss. He said that once it warmed up and Pat agreed that when you do have a little niggle and particularly if it’s not a muscle injury, once it warms up, it’s fine.”

“But it’s just that first couple of balls that you bowl – he looked in excruciating pain there for a while. I mean, he would have got through on adrenaline in that last session in particular when he was up in the mid 140s at the back end of the fourth Test match with a high workload. So I think he’ll definitely play.”

To this, Ferguson replied, “I mean, you’ve really got to be managing this very carefully. We’ve got a Sri Lanka series coming up and that’ll come around quick too. I don’t think you can look forward to that though.”

In response to Ferguson, Finch commented, “No, I agree with that. Because this series is so important, and this Test match is so important. So I think that yes, whilst the Sri Lankan series is important, I think that’s a selection for next week.”

Quizzed on if Marsh can play after Starc is picked, Finch said, “I don’t think so, purely for the workload. Nathan Lyon will have a bigger workload obviously with the turn in Sydney. Travis Head might be able to pick up some slack.”

“But I think if you’re going in with somebody under a slight injury cloud and Mitch just hasn’t bowled the amount of overs that you would expect from the fourth seamer, that’d be a tough. If someone went down, I mean, you can’t bowl in a couple of overs.”

Ferguson signed off by saying, You’re right, Finch. I think if we’re going into this one with Starc, I think we need to find someone who’s got more overs up their sleeve.”

–IANS

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