Overview
- Ecuador did not win any of its three Copa Kirin matches, losing 3-0 to South Korea and falling on penalties to Japan and Panama on Monday.
- The team scored just one goal in the three games, with Juan Riquelme Angulo netting Ecuador’s sole strike in the 1-1 draw with Panama.
- Enner Valencia, who has retired from the national team, publicly backed Gallardo’s process but missed a penalty in the shootout against Panama.
- Gallardo described the tour as a useful assessment, pointed to the absence of key players such as Moisés Caicedo and Piero Hincapié, and said he plans to reintegrate those players ahead of November.
- Because the Copa Kirin is a friendly tournament for testing players and tactics, Ecuador’s immediate task is to fix a glaring scoring problem before official competitions begin and to convert the second-half positives seen against Panama into wins.