EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Midway through the second half, tied with Germany, its World Cup hopes dwindling, Ecuador lined up for a corner kick. Pedro Vite looped the ball into the box, where Kevin Rodriguez headed the ball onward toward the goal. The legendary German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer seemed well-positioned to catch the ball. But Ecuador’s Gonzalo Plato stuck up his left foot, just in front of Neuer, and poked it into the net.
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The crowd let out a deafening roar and Plato ran to the corner of the field, in front of a sea of yellow-clad fans, where he was mobbed by his teammates, the substitutes leaving the bench to join in, too. On the sideline, Ecuador manager Sebastián Beccacece left his post and ran to the front of the stands, where he reached up and hugged his family.
Watching the scene unfold, one might assume the game was over. It looked like the reaction a team had after a walk-off home run, a March Madness buzzer beater. But there was still about 20 minutes left to play, including stoppage time. As the clock ticked down, Ecuador fans kept chanting, “Si se puede! Si se puede!” Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
When the final whistle blew, Ecuador had defeated Germany, 2-1, in one of the biggest upsets of this World Cup. Had Ecuador lost, its tournament would be over. Now it was advancing to the knockout round. In the press box, Ecuadorian media cheered. Grown men hugged one another, and at least one started crying. On the field, Beccacece ran back to the stands, climbed up higher this time and embraced his family again.
“I think we need to celebrate these moments,” Beccacece said after the win via a FIFA interpreter. “I’m thinking of the Ecuadorian people, 19 million people celebrating, hugging each other, having a beer, and celebrating this historical victory.”
Germany had entered today having scored nine goals in its first two games, the most in the tournament, thanks in large part to a 7-1 opening win over Curaçao. Germany had already clinched the top spot in Group E, before the Ecuador game even began. But Germany didn’t play complacent early on. Less than two minutes into the game, it had scored.
Off a throw-in in the Ecuador half, Germany made a few crisp passes into the middle of the field, until the ball ended up at Leroy Sané’s feet just inside the box. He stroked a shot past the diving Ecuadorian goalkeeper, and it looked as if this might be another German rout.
But in the ninth minute, Ecuador found an equalizer. Vite stole the ball in the German half and sent it over to Nilson Angulo, who had some open grass in front. Angulo dribbled closer and before the defense could converge, when he was about 26 yards out, he ripped a shot into the right corner of the net. On a closer look, you could see Angulo shot the ball between the legs of German defender Aleksandar Pavlovic, who was closing in.
Given the stakes on Ecuador’s side, there was a thick tension in the air all afternoon. The New York-New Jersey Stadium appeared to be about half-filled with Ecuadorian fans, probably due to the large contingent of Ecuador natives that live in the area. They arrived wearing yellow, their faces painted, draping themselves in their country’s flag.
The game might’ve been less stressful for them, had Ecuador simply beaten Curaçao in its previous match, rather than playing to a 0-0 tie. Then it wouldn’t have needed a win over mighty Germany to advance.
“That’s what life is about, learning how to suffer and having that composure, faith, belief, poise, confidence,” the Ecuador manager Beccacece said afterward. “That’s what we’ve been talking about in the face of adversity.”
That Angulo goal gave Ecuador hope. It played physical with Germany throughout the match, and kept attacking, looking for the go-ahead score. When it finally came in the 77th minute, on that miracle toe poke by Gonzalo Plato, lots of emotion poured out.
“The atmosphere was amazing, of course,” German right back Joshua Kimmich said. “You could feel that there were many people from Ecuador. The difference was today that the opponent wanted to win more than us. You could really feel it, especially in the second half. This is why they won today, really deserved.”
Afterward, as Ecuador fans streamed out of the stadium, they kept chanting, “E-cua-dor! E-cua-dor!” And then again: “Si se puede! Si se puede!” Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
Yes, they did. No matter how the rest of the tournament unfolded, they would remember this day for a long time.