West Ham forward Enner Valencia could feature for Ecuador tomorrow as they take on the USA in a Copa America warm-up match – Official site article
The South Americans will face the tournament’s hosts in Texas in a friendly at 1am UK time in a hope to build momentum prior to the opening stages in the States.
The Yellows will go up against Brazil, Haiti and Peru in Group B of the competition which is the first to be held outside South America.
And Valencia is confident his side can progress from the group stages with the correct preparation in place.
He said: “I had a short time with my family after the season with West Ham finished and then we started preparing for the Copa America.
“We are in a group with a massive team in Brazil, but we have a very good chance to get through to the next stage because Ecuador is doing very well in qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
“We also have Peru and Haiti in our group and we hope to have a very good Copa America. It will be played in the United States, too, where I scored against England, so I am looking forward to it very much!”
Ecuador kick-off their campaign against five-time World Cup winners Brazil in California on 4 June, before heading to Arizona to take on Peru four days later. Their final group stage game against Haiti is in New Jersey on 12 June.
Valencia was on the scoresheet in his last international outing, bagging the opener in a 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw with Paraguay back in March.
His nation is currently joint-top of the South American qualification standings, with only Uruguay keeping apace at the summit with 13 points.