Kneeling down, looking at the sky the Ecuadorian soccer team that scored the first two goals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup offered to God in the Muslim-majority country goes viral.
On the day of the Solemnity of Christ the King, 20 November, the World Cup party began with the duel between Ecuador and Qatar at the Al Bayt stadium. The team, Ecuador won the match scoring 2-0.
Ecuadorian striker Enner Valencia scored a penalty and together with his teammates they formed a circle, knelt down, and raised their hands to heaven to glorify God in the first half.
The left-back Pervis Estupiñán assured in a recent interview that “with Ecuador, we pray together before and after the games.”
“We are all very religious. In addition to working and fighting to do things the best we can, we know that someone brought us here and it is our way of thanking them and asking them to help us”, said the footballer.
“In the end, apart from the result, we thank him for leaving the field well and not hurting anyone,” he added.
Before the start of the game, Ecuadorian midfielder Carlos Gruezo shared a video on his Instagram where several members of the national team are seen praying in one of the rooms of the Hyatt Regency Oryx hotel, where they are staying.
“Today a new story begins and the one who guides our steps is God, without you we can do nothing, we give you all the glory and honor,” Gruezo wrote on his social network.
Father Paul Rivas Alfaro, a priest from the north of Lima (Peru), told EWTN News that the Ecuadorian team “teaches us something very great: that you can give glory to God before, during and after the World Cup.” ”.
“This will remain for perpetuity. The best gift they could give on the Solemnity of Christ the King was this triumph because they gave it to God, “he stressed.
The Christians in Qatar are allowed to worship in an area provided by the government on the outskirts of Doha, on land donated by the monarch or emir himself.