World Cup: Ecuador Must Press on After Death of Star Striker

Many of the teams at this summer's World Cup will pin their hopes to their respective star strikers, soccer's offensive aggressors who are charged with scoring goals and keeping opponents on their heels. For England, that's Wayne Rooney. The Netherlands looks to Robin van Persie and Argentina to a stable of scorers led by the transcendent Lionel Messi. Country by country, the list goes on

But Ecuador — tasked with navigating a group that includes France, Switzerland and Honduras — will be without its own star striker when the World Cup kicks off on June 12 in Brazil. Christian Benitez scored four goals for Ecuador during its 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. Overall, he donned La Tri's blue, yellow and red jersey 58 times for international matches, finding the net 24 times Read more...