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FBED Longform: Ecuador to England, Enner Valencia’s 2014 journey

By on December 29, 2014

Enner Valencia’s career started at the Estadio George Capwell in the costal city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, and by way of Mexico, making a short detour to Brazil, is now in the glorious heights of the Premier League, specifically, the pitch of Old Trafford. Valencia’s surname may be akin to that of Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia, yet the two are not related, only similar in career paths; Antonio too began at the Caribe Junior’s youth system before winding up at The Theater of Dreams. In this respect, neither’s career resembles that of Edison Mendez, who, though starting in Ecuador, club hopped across three continents before winding up the free agent he is today, at the age of thirty-five. Mendez never played at Old Trafford.

Yet Mendez did lay a well-beaten path that both Valencias are following to success. The 2002 World Cup was Ecuador’s first. That year, Mendez was Ecuador’s standout star, scoring the sole goal in Ecuador’s 1-0 win over Croatia, earning him interest from all around the world. Mendez was Ecuador’s first international star, born from nothing at the World Cup.

Next time around in 2006, another Ecuadorian star was born: Antonio Valencia. Valencia played in all four of Ecuador’s matches as they advanced to the knockout round, and by the end of the tournament found himself in FIFA’s Ideal 11 team, as well as a nominee for Gillette’s Best Young Player Award. By coincidence, Valencia also received the most online votes to win the award after an email was reportedly broadcast around England to ensure Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn’t win it. And partly as a result, Valencia soon wound up in the Premier League with Wigan Athletic, a bridge leading to his subsequent transfer to Manchester United in 2009.

In 2010, Ecuador didn’t even qualify for the the cup, but 2014 was Enner Valencia’s year. The winger-turned-forward scored all three of Ecuador’s goals at the tournament, including two in a 2-1 win over Honduras. 2014 belonged to Enner Valencia.

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Everybody likes a good rags to riches football story, but Enner Valencia is not quite one of those. When speaking to The Independent, he told his story, saying, “My family [ran] a farm, with animals and pigs. There was fruit as well, bananas, everything. The people in my town they are used to this life, to living like this, and they live well. My family are still on the farm and they do not want to leave.”

At the age of fifteen he joined Caribe Junior’s youth system, and soon would join the professional club Emelec. He was a late bloomer, making his first professional appearance in March 2010 at the age of twenty-one. In that match, he scored the only goal to gain a key away win against LDU Quito, one of the biggest clubs in Ecuador. Quito would win the Primera A that year, with Emelec finishing runners-up. At the time, Valencia was reportedly living in the George Capwell Stadium with nowhere else to stay.

That would be his only goal in twenty-five appearances in 2010, though to be fair Valencia was playing as a winger, only when Gustavo Quinteros joined the club in 2012 did he convert to the forward position. The following year he brought his tally up to thirteen, and while it took a dip in 2013, that was by far his most important year at the club. Valencia player a major role in Emelec’s league title, and in January of 2014 he joined Pachuca, the Mexican first division side. It was here where in just twenty-three matches Valencia scored eighteen goals, making him their top scorer despite joining midway through the season. Many came from headers or tap-ins – for a winger, Valencia has an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time – but also included some brilliant free-kicks and twisting runs. Both types of goals sealed his spot on Ecuador’s World Cup squad.

Valencia had only scored four international goals prior to the World Cup, three of which in Ecuador’s World Cup sendoff tour, and all of which in friendlies. During the tournament he nearly doubled that tally in just three matches. Though Ecuador failed to get out of the group stages, it was Valencia’s career-defining month.

Ecuador faced France, Switzerland, and Honduras, in Group E, so came into their group with a good chance of qualifying of the knockout stages. And just twenty-seven minutes into Ecuador’s campaign, Valencia started living the dream. Completely unmarked and just six yards out, he rose up and headed a free-kick into the ground and the back of the net. Valencia took it in stride as well, as compared, for example, to John Brooks’ goal for the US against Ghana the next day.

Yet it wasn’t meant to be. Switzerland equalized from a set piece of their own and in the second of three minutes of stoppage time, bagged the winner. That result all but vanquished Ecuador’s hopes of advancing, especially when early in their next match, against Honduras, a defensive mishap saw them go behind.

That is, until Valencia equalized. His first goal was a classic poacher’s finish, poking home a cross-shot that bobbled across the goal at the far post. Then, sixty-five minutes in, Valencia rose up and scored with a header much like he goal against Switzerland. Both were classic poacher’s finishes, but throughout the match, Valencia made run after run in behind Ecuador’s defense with his winger’s pace. Valencia earned Man of the Match and Ecuador won, with their hopes revived as Valencia was made a star.

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Ecuador did not qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament, falling just one goal short in a scoreless draw with France. However, it could hardly have been more successful for Valencia. Only recently had he even been a starter, after the tragic death of Christian Benitez, but now he was suddenly their star. He began attracting attention from around the world. Tottenham, Newcastle, Sevilla, and AC Milan were all linked with the forward. In the end, West Ham United captured his signature for what in retrospect was a £12 million steal.

In an interview with The Guardian, Valencia admitted he knew little about the club before joining them – mostly from watching the 2005 film, Green Street, on hooliganism among West Ham supporters, “I knew about West Ham mainly from watching films,” he told Jacob Steinberg. “And I know the supporters were very passionate.”

And after less than half a season at the club, he has become their golden boy. In just his first full league match for the club, a 2-2 draw with Hull City, he scored an incredible twenty-five yard screamer off the crossbar from a standing position. Since then, he has scored twice more, with two assists. Soon after, he found himself walking out at Old Trafford, playing a full ninety minutes in a tight 2-1 loss to Manchester United, less than nine months on from waking up an Emelec player in Ecuador.

But this story does not end there, nicely wrapped with a bow. On Christmas Day, West Ham were in the top four, and Valencia their standout player. With such an incredible ten months under his belt, Valencia is still only twenty-five, with a move to a bigger club still very much on his radar screen. His stated goal is to play European football, potentially with West Ham, saying, “Before signing we spoke a lot about that, the ambitions of the club to try to play European football,” Valencia said. “I’m going to work very hard for it and they’re going to try to make top four.”

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.