QUITO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- New England Revolution striker Leonardo Campana will be among four key names missing from Ecuador's squad for World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Chile, head coach Sebastian Beccacece said on Tuesday.

Campana will be sidelined for up to a month after tearing a hamstring during New England's 2-0 away defeat to Philadelphia in Major League Soccer last Saturday.

Beccacece said that Lens left-back Jhoanner Chavez (hamstring), Cercle Brugge winger Alan Minda (thigh) and Sparta Prague right-back Angelo Preciado (knee) would also be absent from the matches later this month.

"They are players that I would love to have here but unfortunately we'll have to make do without them," the Argentine manager told reporters. "We have to be able to deal with this type of adversity, like all national teams."

Ecuador will meet Venezuela in Quito on March 21 and Chile in Santiago four days later. The Tricolor are currently third in the 10-team South American zone qualifying group with 19 points from 12 matches, six points behind leaders Argentina.

Beccacece said he was quietly confident of securing a top-six place, an outcome that would earn his side an automatic berth at next year's FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"We're ready to start an important year of competition. We are already halfway toward our qualification goal but we must be calm and continue to work hard with the same values that have helped us to get to where we are," he added. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)