Ecuador soccer coach Luis Fernando Suarez, on Monday praised his nation's under-18 soccer team for the gold medal won in Pan American Games, with a 2-1 victory over Jamaica late on Sunday.
"Following the defeat in the Copa America, the Pan-America Games alleviated Ecuadorian soccer," said Suarez, a Colombian. It was Ecuador's first victory in the Games.
However, he said his job was still under press because of the team's first-round exit from the Copa, held in Venezuela.
"There is pressure because we did not get the results hoped for in Venezuela. There is always pressure. But the Games victory is a real demonstration of what the national team can do," he said.
The team lost all three matches that it played in Venezuela -- 3-2 to Chile, 2-1 to Mexico and 1-0 to Brazil.
Also on Monday, 300 cheering fans and relatives greeted the Ecuadorian team as whey arrived in Jose Joaquin Olmedo Airport, in the port city of Guayaquil.
Luis Chiriboga Acosta, president of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF), led the welcoming party. The players then toured the city in an open-top bus on their way to the FEF headquarters, cheered by thousands of fans in the city's main streets.
Source: Xinhua
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