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Marcelo Gallardo Named Ecuador Coach With Contract Through 2030

His hiring launches a long-term plan that prioritizes steady improvement and uses a short Asian friendly tour to begin evaluating the current generation of players.

Overview

  • FEF officially presented Gallardo as Ecuador’s head coach on Thursday with a contract that runs to the 2030 World Cup cycle.
  • Gallardo immediately took charge and will debut on the Asian tour that opens in Suwon on September 24 and includes a match against Japan on October 1.
  • He reshuffled his technical staff before arriving, confirming Hernán Buján as his principal assistant, adding Juan Carlos Docabo as goalkeeping coach, and noting Matías Biscay will not join the project.
  • Gallardo said he accepted the job because of Ecuador’s ‘very good generation’ of players and asked for patience while he builds a process that will start by largely maintaining the recent World Cup core and assessing younger options.
  • The appointment replaces Sebastián Beccacece after Ecuador’s World Cup exit and puts pressure on the federation to back a structural plan that can convert the nation’s top-league talent into sustained international results.