Ecuador talisman Enner Valencia managed to etch his name indellibly into the history books of world football on Thursday evening.
Valencia, of course, guided his country back into action a short time ago.
After a comfortable opening day downing of tournament hosts Qatar, La Tri turned their attentions towards a showdown with the Netherlands, in the knowledge that a positive result would see them take a significant step towards qualification for the World Cup’s Last-16.
And, when all was said and done, Gustavo Alfaro’s troops secured exactly that.
Showcasing their ability to compete at the top level, Ecuador held their own against the might of the Dutch, en route to a share of the spoils in a 1-1 stalemate.
And that man Valencia, for his part, found the net once more, to take his tally to three goals to date in Qatar.
As per statisticians Opta, Valencia is just the fourth player to ever score as many as six consecutive goals for his country on the biggest stage in international football:
6 – Enner #Valencia 🇪🇨 has scored each of Ecuador’s last 6 goals at the #FIFAWorldCup. He is just the 4th player ever to score 6 consecutive goals for a nation in the competition, along with Eusébio 🇵🇹 in 1966, Paolo Rossi 🇮🇹 in 1982 and Oleg Salenko 🇷🇺 in 1994. Flag.#NEDECU pic.twitter.com/MtoZw6fxmA
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 25, 2022
Unfortunately for both the striker and Ecuador alike, however, Valencia’s evening ultimately came to an end amid concerning scenes at the Khalifa international Stadium, as an injury problem saw him stretchered from the field of play with 89 minutes on the clock.
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