Ecuador and Uruguay eye Qatar World Cup ticket
Ecuador will try to break a historic hoodoo Thursday when they travel to Paraguay seeking the point that would book their ticket to the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
In eight previous World Cup qualifiers away to Paraguay, going back to 1981, Ecuador have lost every single one.
If they avoid defeat, they would qualify for Qatar 2022 with a game to spare, turning their final match at home to Argentina in Guayaquil on March 29 into a celebration, something many Ecuadorans thought impossible when the campaign began.
"This national team deserves double the praise because to be very honest, 99.9 percent of Ecuadorans don't think they would qualify for the World Cup," Carlos Tenorio, a former international striker who scored twice for Ecuador at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, told El Universo.
"People still remember Tenorio's goals in 2006," when Ecuador reached the last 16.
"In our time we gave joy but now these guys deserve much more and they have far better conditions than we did to achieve it."
Paraguay's slim hopes of reaching Qatar ended with a 1-0 loss at home to Uruguay at the end of January and a 4-0 defeat in Brazil at the start of February.
Brazil and Argentina secured qualification last year and both remain unbeaten during the campaign.
The top four teams in the single South American qualifying group earn automatic spots in Qatar, while the fifth-placed finishers enter an inter-continental play-off.
Uruguay can also book their berth on Thursday, when they host Peru in Montevideo.
A run of four straight losses had left Uruguay's hopes in the balance but the country's federation sacked iconic veteran coach Oscar Tabarez in November after 15 years -- in which he led the team to the 2010 World Cup semi-final and victory at the Copa America a year later.
His replacement, Diego Alonso, had a perfect start with the 1-0 win in Asuncion followed by a 4-1 victory at home to Venezuela.
Victory over Peru, who are a point behind, coupled with Chile, three points back, failing to win away to Brazil would secure Celeste's ticket to Qatar.
