Brayan Angulo

Four years is a long time in football. At the start of the last CONMEBOL qualification cycle, Ecuador flew out of the blocks and looked in a good position to reach a fourth World Cup since the turn of the century. But it wasnt to be. La Tricolor collapsed spectacularly and now find themselves in desperate need of rejuvenation.

The appointment of Hernan “Bolillo” Gomez has not filled fans with much optimism – especially after a recent 4-3 defeat to Qatar – and there are a number of issues facing the new boss. One problem position is up front, particularly after the retirement of Felipe Caicedo. Apart from Enner Valencia, there arent many proven goalscorers at international level to choose from and the squad is crying out for a traditional number nine.

With that in mind, could Brayan Angulo be the man to banish their woes in front of goal? Not to be confused with his Colombian namesake, Angulo was born in Guayaquil in the south of Ecuador and came up through the youth ranks of local side Rocafuerte, scoring 48 times in 86 games at junior level.

In 2013 Emelec, one of the giants of Ecuadorian football, signed him on a two-year loan. Angulo hit 17 goals for the reserve side that year and the club promptly made the signature permanent. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that Cuco made his breakthrough, scoring 10 goals in 26 appearances as Emelec finished as runners-up. Angulo kept up his form with another 13 league goals the following year, plus three in six in the Libertadores.

Now 22, Angulo has stepped it up to the next level in 2018. At the time of writing, he has bagged 20 goals in 31 league games, as well as another two in the Libertadores, to confirm his reputation as one of the top prospects in Ecuadorian football.

Here we look at what Angulo could offer to La Tricolor in more detail…

FINISHING

As you would expect from someone with such a good goal-scoring record, Angulo knows how to find the back of the net. Though a right-footed striker by trade, he finishes clinically off both feet, as demonstrated by his left-footed strike against Macara below.

Another feature of Angulo’s finishing is his economy of touches, usually only needing just one killer touch to sweep the ball into the net. As such, defenders have to remain switched on at all times because any lapse in concentration will be immediately punished if Angulo is given a yard of space in the box.

At the start of the year, former Emelec manager Angelo Arias said that Angulo needed to learn how to “score ugly” to become a top striker. Certainly, there seems to have been an evolution in Angulo’s style this year, with a higher quantity of goals coming in the penalty box from those trademark first-time attempts, no doubt contributing to his increased overall tally.

Angulo a