Ecuador will think they should be up there with Peru, topping the table with three points after the first round of matches in Group B. They had a perfectly legitimate-looking goal ruled out against Brazil, with the match eventually ending up as a 0-0 draw. Now, Ecuador need to make sure that they do not put themselves in a backs-to-the-wall and show why they currently top the South American World Cup qualifiers table when they play Peru in a crucial Copa America Centenario clash in Glendale on Wednesday.
While most teams would consider a point against Brazil to be a solid one, Ecuador will know they let a real chance of bossing the group slip, even if that disallowed goal was beyond their control. All they can do now is go out at the University of Phoenix Stadium and put on another one of their thrilling, full-press high energy shows and hope that it is enough to get them three points against Peru, who beat Haiti 1-0 in their opening match thanks to a second half strike from Paolo Guerrero.
"We always try to always play the same way," FourFourTwo quoted Gustavo Quinteros, the Ecuador coach, as saying. "Against Brazil we went to press them to take away the ball, at times we did well and other times not.
"Peru have quality players and also play very well. We always go out to play with the same spirit and with the same idea to win."
A win could potentially leave with three teams on the same number of points going into the final round of matches – assuming Brazil beat Haiti in the earlier game, or even the other way around – making Group B quite an interesting one.
Peru, though, will hope to make it less so by beating Ecuador, knowing a win will guarantee their place in the quarterfinals of the Copa America Centenario.
"We respect the team of Ecuador," Peru coach Ricardo Gareca was quoted as saying by ESPN. "We're definitely going to have to correct and improve a lot (from the 1-0 win over Haiti) if we intend to get a positive result."
Where to Watch Live
Ecuador vs Peru is set for a 10 p.m. ET (3 a.m. BST, 7.30 a.m. IST) start. All the live straming and tV options.
India: TV: Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD. Live Streaming: Sony Liv.
USA: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: FoxSoccer2Go.
South America/Latin America: TV: DirecTV. Live Streaming: DirecTV live.
Brazil: TV: SporTV.
UK: TV: Premier Sports. Live Streaming: Premier Player.
Mexico: TV: Univision, TDN, Azteca.
Canada: Univision.
Australia, France and Spain: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
China and Hong Kong: TV: PPTV Sports and LeTV.
Singapore: Singtel. Live Streaming: Singtel Go.
Thailand: TrueSport 1.
