New Delhi: Ecuador will be in Germany for their second successive FIFA World Cup booking their place in the finals with a game to spare.
Their overall qualifying record was eight wins, four draws and six defeats, with 23 goals for and 19 against and a good home record enabled Ecuador to catch the plane to Germany 2006.
But the road to the World Cup was not always smooth as midway through the qualification campaign Hernan Dario Gomez quit as the coach.
His place was taken by another Colombian, Suarez, who was able to emulate the success of his predecessor.
For a country that has not much to show on the soccer field, Ecuador managed to finish second in the qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Ecuador did not qualify for the knockout stage of the 2002 tournament but managed a 1-0 win over Croatia, the third-placed team at France 98.
From being 71st in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking at the start of their qualification campaign Ecuador were well in to the 30s.
Their meteoric rise in the ranking was aided by a win against South American superpowers Brazil during the qualification campaign.
Their top stars include Christian Lara, Luis Valencia, Franklin Salas, Ulises de La Cruz, Ivan Hurtado, Mendez and Agustin Delgado.
Goalkeepers: Edwin Villafuerte (1), Cristian Mora (12), Damian Lanza (22). Defenders: Jorge Guagua (2), Ivan Hurtado (3), Ulises De La Cruz (4), Jose Perlaza (5), Paul Ambrosi (13), Giovanny Espinoza (17), Neicer Reasco (18). Midfielders: Patricio Urrutia (6), Christian Lara (7), Edison Mendez (8), Segundo Castillo (14), Marlon Ayovi (15), Luis Valencia (16), Luis Saritama (19), Edwin Tenorio (20). Forwards: Felix Borja (9), Ivan Kaviedes (10), Agustin Delgado (11), Carlos Tenorio (21), Cristian Benitez (23)
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