Marcelo Gallardo, former River Plate coach, will be the new commander of the Ecuador national team. The Argentine reached an agreement with the Ecuadorian Football Federation and should sign a two-year contract, valid until the 2028 Copa América, with possibility of renewal until the 2030 World Cup. Gallardo is expected to travel to Quito in the coming days to make the agreement official.
Gallardo will replace another Argentine, Sebastián Beccacece, who led Ecuador at the last World Cup, when the team was eliminated in the second round by Mexico. This will be Gallardo's first job in charge of a national team.
Besides River Plate, the Argentine also coached Nacional, from Uruguay, and Al-Ittihad, from Saudi Arabia. His last job was precisely at River Plate, between 2024 and 2026, a period in which he did not achieve the same success as his first stint at the club, between 2014 and 2022, when he won 13 titles.
