Ecuador's head coach, Gustavo Quinteros, confirmed on Tuesday that Antonio Valencia, emblematic player of the tricolor will be left out of Chile's 2015 Copa America due to an ankle surgery.
Ecuador's head coach, Gustavo Quinteros, confirmed on Tuesday that Antonio Valencia, emblematic player of the tricolor will be left out of Chile's 2015 Copa America due to an ankle surgery.
"We're losing him for the Copa America. So it's a major, let down," said the helmsman at a press conference at the headquarters of the combined, on the eastern outskirts of Quito.
Valencia, also a Manchester United midfielder, was subjected in the last hours in England to a surgery in order to remove a screw in the ankle that had been placed three years ago because of an injury.
Quinteros, who included Valencia on the tentative Ecuadorian 30 player list for the Copa America, said that "for us it was not beneficial," referring to the timing of the procedure.
However, he considered that it was the best "for him, and his physical condition, which will allow him to star next season with his team at 100% which is understandable."
"We hope to get him back at 100% for the South American qualifiers for Russia's 2018 World Cup", he added.
The strategist said that Valencia had informed him that he had been operated because of a lot of discomfort in recent games with Manchester.
Before the loss of Valencia, Ecuador had already lost striker Felipe Caicedo (Spain's Espanyol) due to an injury.
In addition, Quinteros placed midfielder, Renato Ibarra (Vitesse, Netherlands) and striker Ángel Mena (Emelec) who suffer physical discomfort as tentative. Both appear in the preliminary squad for the upcoming tournament.
On Monday, the representative for Valencia, Pedro Romero, said that "doctors have decided to withdraw the screw and a plate that had been previously placed in his ankle."
In addition, he anticipated that he will need between "two to three weeks" to recover.
Valencia, who disappointed in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where the tricolor was eliminated in the first round, posted several images after the surgery.
"Thank God everything went well. And now just thinking about recovery," wrote the player on Instagram social network.
At the Copa America, Ecuador will debut against Chile, and will share in the A Group along with Bolivia and Mexico.
Text and photo: AFP
Edition: conmebol.com
