Ecuador boss Sebastian Beccacece rushed to find his wife in the crowd after Gonzalo Plata scored the goal to send his side through to the knockout rounds of the FIFA World Cup. After a draw and defeat in their opening two games of the tournament, Ecuador needed to beat Group E winners Germany at New York/New Jersey Stadium to advance to the knockout stages.
Beccacece’s side, though, made the worst possible start when Leroy Sane opened the scoring after just two minutes, but his players were convinced there was a foul in the build-up. However, Ecuador responded through Nilson Angulo before Plata became his country’s hero 13 minutes from time after missing an open goal minutes earlier.
As Plata found the back of the net, it was bedlam inside New York/New Jersey Stadium. The Ecuador-majority crowd erupted inside the stadium, and while the majority of the Ecuador bench rushed onto the pitch, Beccacece set off to celebrate with his partner.
And he was soon spotted climbing a fence and kissing his wife of 21 years in the crowd. It was a chaotic moment for several reasons, but Beccacece became a World Cup cult hero for his instinctive reaction.
The victory means that Ecuador have now risen to the top of the table of the third-place teams at the World Cup. Speaking post-match, Beccacece said: “It is not about what it means to me; this is for the people.
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“The players have given them this qualification. Let them celebrate and enjoy it.”
Match-winner Plata added: “We were really looking forward to this before the World Cup began. It feels different today because we struggled so much in the first two matches.
“It’s better this way; it’s a learning experience for us and now we’ll go into the next round even more hungry for glory. This team believes strongly in itself.
View 2 ImagesSebastian Beccacece celebrates with Gonzalo Plata after Ecuador’s win over Germany (Image: (Patrick Smith – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images))
“We have 26 players who will give their all for Ecuador. We’ve filled stadiums everywhere, our fans have made us feel at home in every stadium. They deserve this more than anyone. They did their part, they helped us a lot and motivated us.”
While Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said: “We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure instead of suddenly switching positions too much. There was too much freestyle.
“We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions, and if on top of that we are giving the ball away too often, at some point it becomes difficult.”
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