Leader without foreigners: how many years ago was El Nacional not leader?

Only two dates of the LigaPro 2023 have passed and they already had their first surprise in the standings. The National He is the only pointer in the tournament with two games won in two days and two points ahead of the second: Orense and Cumbayá. But why is this a surprise if Nacho is a big team in the country?

For two reasons: he recently returned to Serie A after two years in Serie B and because it is the only club that plays without foreigners in the tournament. It is that with the increase to eight places for foreign players, it seemed that the cast of the Puros Criollos would have a greater disadvantage compared to the other 15 teams in the national championship.

It must be remembered that the capital club was one of the five that voted against the expansion of the quota for foreigners. Its president, Lucía Vallecilla, said at that time that this decision took away space for national players and that due to philosophy (they have never used footballers of another nationality in their history) they could not support that request.

However, With a good base of players from last season, more signings of top players, those led by Éver Hugo Almeida are giving the bump. On the first date they beat the defending champion (Aucas), while on the second they beat Técnico Universitario, a team that had just thrashed Universidad Católica.

Although in its best time El Nacional was used to fighting for the top of the tournaments and, consequently, the title. The team from Quito had not been in this position for almost seven years, the last time it had been on March 18, 2016. That season they finished third in the accumulated table (behind Barcelona and Emelec) and it was in the last one that they had some prominence.

From there came the bad years of the military cast that ended with the decline in 2020. But this resurgence, which began with the B title and third place in the 2022 Ecuador Cup, looks set to continue for a long time. This year they already made a good presentation on their return to the Copa Libertadores, although they were eliminated, and the LigaPro and the Ecuador Cup remain ahead.

This weekend they will once again put the lead into play, against nothing more and nothing less than Liga de Quito, another classic rival. The match will be played on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Atahualpa Olympic Stadium. It is also an important commitment for the Albos since they have not yet won at the start of the local tournament.

In this context, where a team with only Ecuadorian players leads the national championship, Carlos Tenorio, president of the AFE, once again criticized the LigaPro and the Ecuadorian Football Federation. El Demoledor once again stated that the decision to increase the number of foreigners in the contest is unnecessary.

“Finished the second date of the LigaPro ??? I have seen all the matches, since Friday, and the teams that used the most foreigners on the field, 90% of them lost, others have players but did not use them. Why the increase? @FEFEcuador,” she wrote on his Tenorio Twitter account.

The former soccer player has been questioning the decision that was made in LigaPro on December 21 of last year for months. However, Miguel Ángel Loor has constantly responded in favor of the new rule and recalling that it was the decision of the clubs and cannot be changed.