Ecuador coach Beccacece hurt by 'unfair' loss as unbeaten streak ends

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/traore-amad/I5Rhq1WL/"]Amad Diallo[/a] struck in the 90th minute to give the Ivorians all ‌three points in their Group E clash after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ecuador/8tbm8Tri/"]Ecuador[/a] ‌had dominated long spells of the game, hit the woodwork three times ‌and squandered several clear opportunities.[/p][p][b]"It hurts because it was ‌an unfair defeat," Beccacece told reporters.[/b][/p][p][b]"I think there are very strong arguments to clearly show that the team competed very well, had the clearest ‌chances and could have won the match, but ⁠because of one detail ‌at the end, we leave with nothing."[/b][/p][p]Ecuador arrived at the tournament unbeaten ​since September 2024 and boasting one of the strongest defensive records in international football, but were punished for ​their inability to turn first-half dominance into goals.[/p][p][b]"When a team is clearly superior and doesn't take its chances, it gives the ⁠opponent the feeling that ​it is still alive," Beccacece said.[/b][/p][p][b]"I never felt they deserved to win the match, but football is not about what you deserve. It's about taking your chances."[/b][/p][image alt="Ivory Coast - Ecuador match momentum" id="f91954fb-d787-4a7e-8117-394ce7d430cd" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="f74f3245-d759-4788-bf41-30a4fe61966a" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The Argentine coach was also unhappy ‌with a second-half foul by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ivory-coast/G2FRjBgn/"]Ivory[/a] Coast defender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doue-guela/vg3drc4E/"]Guela Doue[/a].[/p][p][b]"We all saw what was clearly a second yellow card and a sending-off," Beccacece said. "Those are things we cannot control. They hurt, but we have to accept them."[/b][/p][h2]Response key for El Tri[/h2][p]Beccacece insisted Ecuador's hopes of reaching the knockout stages remained firmly in their own hands ahead of matches against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/curacao/bLLGpOkQ/"]Curacao[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/germany/ptQide1O/"]Germany[/a].[/p][p][b]"When you don't start the way you wanted, the anxiety appears," he said.[/b][/p][p][b]"But now ‌we need more conviction than ever, more belief than ever, ​more confidence than ever."[/b][/p][p]The coach praised Ecuador's supporters, who turned ‌Philadelphia into a sea of yellow throughout the evening.[/p][p][b]"What hurts me the most and makes me the saddest is not being able to give something back to the people," he said.[/b][/p][p][b]"When you do enough to win, with the ⁠atmosphere that was created here, ⁠and you don't achieve ‌it, it hurts."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ecuador-8tbm8Tri/ivory-coast-G2FRjBgn/?mid=h8pzQySI"]Read the full report now with Flashscore.[/a][/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]