Sebastián Beccacece did not celebrate alone. After Gonzalo Plata’s goal that sealed Ecuador’s historic 2-1 victory against Germany at MetLife Stadium, the Argentine coach ran to the stands, climbed the stands and joined in a tearful hug with his wife, Patricia Persson, and his daughters. The image immediately went viral, but it was his words that ended up connecting with millions.
Visibly moved, Beccacece summarized the meaning of the victory with a direct message to the Ecuadorian people: “No, this is not what it means to me, this is what it means to the people. It is for Ecuador, the players gave enormous joy to the people. Let them enjoy and celebrate.”
The phrase became a trend in a matter of minutes on X, Instagram and TikTok. The message “let her enjoy” was shared massively along with videos of the family hug and the celebration in the stands, interpreted as a call to respect joy after days of strong pressure.
In the run-up to the match against Germany
Beccacece had already set the tone with realism and humility: “First, Ecuador is not Germany.” Furthermore, he defended the process and the group of players: “For me, the players are not a result. For me they are a process and they are people. We are the youngest team in the World Cup, Ecuador has a team for a while, win or lose.”
After the draw against Curacao (previous days)
In one of the moments of greatest pressure, the coach expressed: “I know that today is a hard moment, I know that it is a difficult moment for all the Ecuadorian people… I have not managed, perhaps, to enter the heart of the Ecuadorian people, I have tried, I will continue trying.”
These statements, now seen in perspective after the victory, reflect the coach’s emotional evolution during the group stage. Beccacece also mentioned that music—especially Argentine rock—accompanied him in the preparation for the decisive match.
With the victory against Germany, Ecuador advanced to the round of 32 and Beccacece went from pressure to recognition in a single night. His words not only explained the result: they humanized the coach and reflected the collective feeling of a country celebrating a historic victory.
“Let her enjoy.” That phrase has already been installed in the emotional memory of this day for Ecuadorian soccer.