As the resident “expert” on Ecuadorian futbol (currently writing this from Quito), I’ll add the only bit of color commentary I really know about Independiente del Valle. And color commentary is probably well-timed right now, since this match is seemingly getting more boring by the minute.
So, while not (yet?) a household name, Moises Caicedo is lined up to likely become the most expensive Ecuadorian transfer in history, as EPL clubs are lining up offers approaching 100m euros for the Brighton player. Moises Caicedo was bought by Brighton from Independiente del Valle in January 2021 for 5m euros, but both in the World Cup and in the EPL, has shown himself to be an really formidable midfielder, playing a huge part in Brighton’s 6th place (Europa League!) finish in the EPL.
In any case, not terribly relevant to today’s match other than the fact that IDV have seemingly built up Ecuador’s strongest youth talent development system, something which seems to be paying off with strong performances across South America and to some degree in the local league, where they’ve only been in the top tier since 2010 and their first promotion to second tier was only in 2008, and as recently as 1996, IDV were playing in the regional Pichincha cup, effectively Ecuador’s 4th tier of football.
In any case, crossing my fingers that Idrissi and Gattoni can mix things up for us a bit. Seems silly to lose this match!