Ecuador v Uruguay: Battle of flawless records in Quito

“We met with match officials and the Argentine representatives and there’s no way the game can go on”, Brazil’s assistant coach Gilmar Rinaldi told reporters at the stadium.

Five-time World Cup winners Brazil have had a less than ideal run on the road to Russian Federation, losing the opener to Chile.

The Ecuadorans are bidding to qualify for their second World Cup finals in a row after reaching the 2014 tournament in Brazil, where they were eliminated in the first round.

Thursday’s match had been eagerly awaited, with Brazil welcoming back superstar striker Neymar from suspension after his four-match ban at the Copa America.

Ecuador and Uruguay will play their next World Cup qualifying match at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa on Thursday, 12th November. Quito’s elevation of 2,850 meters (9,350 feet) always makes it hard for visitors.

Goals from Fidel Martinez and Felipe Caicedo helped Ecuador defeat Uruguay 2-1 to stay flawless in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.

However, Martinez was on hand to score the victor after goalkeeper Fernando Muslera had parried Jefferson Montero’s shot with half an hour remaining. He must sit out one more global match.

In the recent time, Ecuador won 2-0 to Bolivia, Colombia and Uruguay 3-0, but lost by injuries to players in their basic game systems such as the right end Antonio Valencia and central defender José Giménez, respectively.

Rodrigo Ramallo, Juan Arce and Rudy Cardozo Fernandez scored for the home side, while Mario Rondon and Richard Blanco bagged consolation goals for the Venezuelans.

Neither side will see a draw as an option as the single point would leave both in the lower half of of the table languishing alongside Venezuela and Bolivia, making qualification challenging.

Colombia played at Chile in a late match and Peru and Paraguay were to play Friday.

Ecuador will now aim to secure a fourth consecutive victory when they travel to Venezuela next Tuesday.