Gustavo Alfaro said he is unsure if he will continue as Ecuador manager following the team’s elimination from the 2022 Fifa World Cup on Tuesday.
The comments followed Ecuador’s 2-1 loss to Senegal in their final Group A match at Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium. The result dashed the South American team’s hopes of reaching the tournament’s round of 16 for the first time since 2006.
“I need time to decide what I will do,” said the 60-year-old Argentine. “I agreed with the [Ecuadorian] federation that we’d meet to discuss it [my future] after the World Cup.
“I’m in pain as a result of this defeat, like everybody in Ecuador. We need to analyze things and think it through with my family. Now is not the time to talk about it,” said Alfaro.
Alfaro was appointed manager of the Tricolor in August 2020 following the departure of Jordi Cruyff. Under his command, Ecuador finished fourth in the 10-team South American World Cup qualifying group — enough to secure a berth in football’s showpiece event for the first time since 2014.
Earlier this month, Ecuadorian Football Federation vice president Carlos Manzur said the entity would seek to extend Alfaro’s contract until the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Tuesday’s defeat left Ecuador third in Group A with four points from three games, three points behind leaders the Netherlands and two points shy of second-placed Senegal.
“It’s a big hit. We had our opportunities in the second half but we weren’t able to take them,” Alfaro said. “Senegal were pressing us. They are very fast and we weren’t able to match their pace. At halftime I told them that we had to do something different, to have more possession and pass the ball faster.
“This hurts because we were knocked out of the World Cup. But we have to take heart from what we have achieved. These are experiences that we need to have and I’m sure these players will get their just desserts in the future.”
