Hurtado: I know what the qualifiers mean - ECUADOR
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| FIFA.com |
“If I’d ever said that I was going to play more World Cup qualifiers than anyone else, they’d have called me crazy,” said Ecuador defender Ivan Hurtado in conversation with FIFA.com.
A talismanic member of the golden generation that led La Tri out of the wilderness and into the FIFA World Cup™, Hurtado remains out front with 72 appearances in world finals qualifiers, the first of them coming on 1 August 1993, in the USA 1994 preliminaries, and the last on 14 October 2009, in the race for places at South Africa 2010.
“I could never have imagined that I’d end up holding the appearance record for such a demanding competition, but I gradually got a feel for it, for what it was to play in a qualifier and to go on and reach the World Cup,” said the man they call Bam Bam, who is also Ecuador’s most capped player and was national team captain on his retirement.
“I’m happy and pleased with what I’ve achieved because I got to where every player dreams of being,” added El Capi, as his former team-mates call him. “I’m grateful for the opportunity I was given. I’ve got some very good memories and I’m part of history, having represented my country with honour and a deep sense of responsibility.
“Though I can remember every game, it’s the first and the last that stand out most for me. The rest were important because they gave me a place in the world football arena.”
Noted for his speed, man-marking abilities and gift for timing tackles to perfection, Hurtado moved into politics after hanging up his boots, earning election to the national assembly in 2013, and also owns a foundation that offers support to disadvantaged children. But having left the game, he returned this year to run out for Ecuadorian second division side Echeandia.
Taking on the best
During the course of his long career Hurtado locked horns with some of the greatest strikers of the last 25 years: “I’ve faced the big teams, who’ve got strikers who can make you pay for the slightest mistake, people like Hernan Crespo, Dario Silva, Ronaldo – the best forward I ever faced – Salvador Cabanas, (Christian) El Toro Vieri, Thierry Henry, Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi too.”
The Ecuadorian legend picked out the highlights of his 72 qualifiers in the South America Zone: “The draws against Uruguay that secured Ecuador’s place at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups – the first in the country’s history – the win over Argentina in 2009, the draw with Brazil that same year and the 5-2 defeat of Paraguay in 2005. They were all landmark achievements and Ecuador fans will always remember them.”
The nations of South America are about to embark once again on the long and arduous road leading to the world finals, prompting Hurtado to comment: “The qualifiers are the World Cup come early, because of the quality of the teams and the players.”
Pondering Ecuador’s chances of a fourth World Cup appearance, the former international defender said: “We’ve got a great team and we’re fast, strong and powerful. The national team’s strength has always been its ability to play as a unit. We’ve never depended on one player alone.”
Glories past and present
Assessing the new Tricolor breed, Bam Bam had this to say: “The new generation qualified comfortably for the World Cup in Brazil but didn’t have a great tournament. They’ll have learned from that and now have another opportunity.
“They know that the South American qualifiers are tough, but it’s obvious that the bar is high and that these players are not going to settle just for winning a game. We’ve grown used to being at the World Cup and have the resources to get there.”
Ecuador went through years of frustration and broken dreams before finally reversing their fortunes to achieve the success they are now enjoying, a process Hurtado experienced at first-hand: “It always used to be an uphill battle before, but this generation is in a position to enjoy itself.
“We had to do the hard yards and we went through some tough times. That’s why I always tell them to enjoy themselves, because they don’t have that weight on their shoulders. We weren’t used to playing in those big competitions but we went on to change the mindset of the Ecuadorian player.”
In total Hurtado pulled on the Tri shirt 168 times, three of them coming at Korea/Japan 2002 and another three at Germany 2006. In the process he lined up alongside a clutch of other famous Ecuadorian names, among them Alex Aguinaga, Francisco Cevallos, Agustin Delgado, Ulises de la Cruz and Edinson Mendez.
The upcoming qualifiers will see the return of Brazil to the fray, a serious obstacle to the aspirations of the rest of the continent, as Hurtado acknowledged: “The most important thing is how you approach that challenge mentally.
“We managed to reach the World Cup both ways, with and without Brazil. You’ve got more of a chance if they’re not involved, but you’ve still got to face Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, who are going to make life hard, and we’ve seen how far Colombia and Chile have come on. You have to be able to match the standards set by the competition.”