Ecuador eased past World Cup debutants Qatar 2-0 on Sunday with first-half goals from veteran striker Enner Valencia in a one-sided affair that was the first opening game defeat for a host nation in the tournament's history.
Ecuador's all-time top scorer, nicknamed "Superman" at home, scored an early penalty and added a well-taken 31st-minute header to give the South Americans a commanding first-half lead as the home side froze with the enormity of the occasion.
Valencia had a third minute header disallowed for a marginal offside after shaky goalkeeper Saad Alsheeb flapped at the ball. For his second, Valencia was unmarked but still showed great technique to stoop and take Angelo Preciado's cross almost from behind him to head past Alsheeb again. The 33-year-old scored all of Ecuador’s three goals at their last World Cup appearance in 2014 and Sunday's double cemented his status as a national hero.
"There is no excuse, I want to congratulate our opponents Ecuador. There is a lot of room for improvement," he said. "We just have to let go, forget about it and be more competitive."
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