Yesterday I picked my mom up from MIA and boy did she have a great story to tell me. She had flown on the same plane as the Ecuadorian National team which was headed to New York where they will play at a sold out new Meadowlands Stadium on Friday versus Mexico.
My mom is so cool she had a few of the players sign autographs for me and she took pictures with them too.
Here she is with defender and captain of the team Ivan "Bam Bam" Hurtado. A World Cup veteran, Hurtado has played in Mexico, Qatar, Colombia, Spain and currently plays for Ecuadorian champions Deportivo Quito. Hurtado has played for Ecuador more then any player in that country's history (163 times so far).
Ulises de la Cruz is another world cup veteran and is poised to complete his 100th appearance for the Ecuadorian national side. De La Cruz has played for Cruzeiro of Brazil, Hibernian in Scotland, Aston Villa, Reading and Birmingham City in England and currently plays with South American champion LDU Quito. Ulises is also known in Ecuador for his charity work and has been named a UNICEF ambassador.
Jaime Ivan Kaviedes is perhaps the most traveled player in Ecuadorian history. Having played for almost every major league in the world and scoring in a world cup. In 1998 Ivan was the highest scorer in the world with 43 goals in one season for Emelec in the Ecuadorian league. In 1999 he moved on to Italy with Perugia, then Spain with Celta de Vigo, Mexico with Puebla then back to Spain with Real Valladolid. Portugal with Porto, Crystal Palace in England, Argentinos Juniors of Argentina and more. Currently with Macara in Ecuador he is rumored to be headed to MLS in July.My mom rocks!