The ball is already rolling in Qatar. Ecuador and the host country were in charge of launching this soccer party with the opening match this Sunday.

With a 2-0 victory, Ecuador, with both goals scored by Enner Valencia, kept the three points of the match, positioning itself so far in first place in the group, waiting for what the Netherlands and Senegal do.

Ecuador did not disappoint their own and beat Qatar, whose team barely put the Ecuadorian goalkeeper, Hernán Galindez, in trouble.

In the post-match comments, the strategist of the Qatari team, Félix Sánchez, reported that the setting has been an important point in the development of the contest.

“The stage has weighed on us, there has been a lack of confidence, we have conceded goals very early and it has been very difficult for us to enter the game against a team that has played a great game. Ecuador has surpassed us in all facets of the game, we are going to try to learn from this experience and we will go for the next game”, declared Sánchez.

On the other side of the coin, the Ecuadorian coach, Gustavo Alfaro, highlighted the role and attitude his team had.

“It is a credit to the players, for their attitude, commitment and the way the game developed. We suffered a mental blow at the start when our goal was disallowed for ‘offside’, however, we continued to look for it with great clarity and forcefulness. Hopefully it will be the start of something important, which is what we want,” Alfaro said.

And it is that this victory, to a large extent, is due to the great performance that the player Jhegson Méndez had. His deployment in the midfield was key for the Ecuadorians to add three against the host. This in addition to the contribution of the goals by Enner Valencia. The 33-year-old veteran and captain once again showed why he continues to play on the old continent.

It is also important to rescue the performance of the Ecuadorian right-back, Ángelo Preciado, who with his assist began the path to victory against Qatar.

On the part of Qatar, despite having been local, motivation and the desire to win the game did not influence. The Qataris showed a poor presentation in their World Cup debut. In the 90 minutes they did not have any shots on goal (five shots wide) and they barely put goalkeeper Galindez in trouble.

So far, Ecuador remains in the leadership of the group, waiting for the actions of the Netherlands and Senegal tomorrow at 11:00 am local time.

the opening show

The Al Bayt Stadium was the scene of this great party. South Korean artist Jung Kook stole the spotlight during his presentation.

Former French player Marcel Desailly was in charge of presenting and carrying the World Cup trophy prior to the game between Qatar and Ecuador.

During the presentations, the songs of ‘La copa de la vida’ from France 1998 and ‘Waka Waka’ from South Africa 2010 were heard, as well as the different mascots of the previous World Cups.

Other artists such as J Balvin, BTS, Black Eyed Peas, Nora Fatehi, Patrick Nnaemeka Okorie, Aisha, Trinidad Cardona, and Davido were present.

It is important to mention that the actor Morgan Freeman was at the opening with a short speech.