© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Ecuador captain Enner Valencia showed incredible calmness while converting the penalty in the 16th minute during the World Cup opener against Qatar at the Al Bayt on Sunday. He scored his – and Ecuador’s – second 10 minutes later and could’ve had a first-half hat-trick but for a disallowed goal in the third minute.
While on the field the 33-year-old forward has always given an impression being of a man in control of what he’s doing, his life outside football has often been chaotic.
Most (in)famously, he was once chased by police while being carried off the field during Ecuador’s 3-0 win over Chile in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match in Quito. Some reports suggest he faked an injury to avoid being arrested but the video footage of the incident shows Valencia, who played for Premier League side Everton back then, had an oxygen mask put over his face as he was taken to the touchline on a buggy when he was pursued by police officers.
According to reports, he was on police radar following a dispute with his ex-wife over child maintenance payments. Valencia settled the case but it took a toll on his career, as he endured a severe slump of form.
Four years later, Valencia’s sister Erci was rescued by Ecuadorian security forces, 10 days after she was kidnapped by heavily armed people in the Ecuadorian town of San Lorenzo. The incident occurred on the same day he was announced as a Fenerbahce player.
Born to a poor family, Valencia did odd jobs to support his family as well as keep his football dreams alive. He had to help take care of his family’s livestock in order to make ends meet.
“Yes, it’s true that I come from a very poor background. In order to buy my first boots I had to go and work with my dad on the farm milking cows,” he once told Daily Mail. “I had to sell the milk and stuff in order to afford to buy my first boots.”
“I was forced to sleep at the Capwell Stadium (Emelec’s stadium in the city of Guayaquil) I had often to go without eating because I did not have any money,” he said. “It was just my love of football that kept me going.
“This is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid, when I was out in the countryside selling milk to buy football boots. Luckily for me, now it’s coming true.
“It’s an amazing feeling. Words can’t express how I felt when I got my head to the ball and realised it was going in. I couldn’t stop screaming, I had such a rush of emotion.”
After a career full of ups and downs, Valencia found his redemption and that too on the biggest stage of all – the World Cup.
