DOHA (Reuters) – Ecuador’s veteran striker Enner Valencia, who scored twice on the opening day of the World Cup, was included in their lineup against the Netherlands for Friday’s clash of the Group A joint leaders.
The 33-year-old, pivotal to his country’s World Cup hopes, limped off late in Sunday’s game against hosts Qatar with a knee strain and had a scan to see the extent of the injury but was declared fit.
Ecuador made one change with Jackson Porozo replacing Romario Ibarra in defence, while the Dutch made three changes but again kept striker Memphis Depay on the bench as he continued his recovery from a hamstring injury and is expected to be a second-half impact player.
Jurrien Timber replaces Matthijs de Ligt among the three centre backs, Teun Koopmeiners comes in for Steven Berghuis and Davy Klaassen replaces Vincent Janssen, which means Cody Gakpo shifts into the front line.
Ecuador: Hernan Galindez, Felix Torres, Piero Hincapie, Pervis Estupinan, Michael Estrada, Angelo Preciado, Jackson Porozo, Gonzalo Plata, Moises Caicedo, Jhegson Mendez, Enner Valencia (capt.)
Netherlands: Andries Noppert, Daley Blind, Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk (capt.), Jurrien Timber, Denzel Dumfries, Davy Klaassen, Teun Koopmeiners, Frenkie de Jong, Steven Bergwijn, Cody Gakpo
(Compiled by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
