The Argentine coach ran to the stands to hug his wife and daughters, in a celebration marked by tears, relief and the emotion of a historic night for Ecuadorian soccer.
When Gonzalo Plata scored the winning goal in the 77th minute, Beccacece could not contain his emotion. Ecuador’s technical director left the bench at MetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey Stadium), ran to the stands, climbed a wall and embraced, through tears, his wife, Patricia Persson, and his daughters.
From the start of the match, Beccacece lived the match with intensity. After Leroy Sané’s early goal, at minute 2, he gestured, ordered his team to maintain compactness and transmitted energy to his players. He celebrated Nilson Angulo’s equalizer with clenched fists at minute 9, and during the second half he adjusted his approach in search of the qualifying goal.
The explosion came in the 77th minute. After Kevin Rodríguez’s header, Gonzalo Plata appeared to push the ball into the back of the net and unleash the Ecuadorian celebration. Beccacece ran with his arms raised, climbed into the stands and hugged his family. He then returned to the bench to direct the final minutes of the match.
The closure was of maximum tension. Germany advanced its lines in search of an equalizer and Beccacece lived each play with intensity: he asked for concentration, ordered the defense with gestures and celebrated each clearance as if it were a goal. At the final whistle he raised his arms and hugged his players.
The 2-1 victory over Germany confirmed Ecuador’s qualification for the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. For Beccacece, the hug with his family summed up the meaning of the victory: months of work, accumulated pressure and the relief of a night that will remain among the most remembered moments of Ecuadorian football.