Ecuador "can play a lot better", says Quinteros

Despite their 2-0 defeat against Chile in the opening match of the Copa America 2015, Ecuador coach Gustavo Quinteros still believes in his side even though he feels they could have done better.

The goals scored against them were due to "timing errors", Quinteros told Copa America 2015' s official website after the match in Santiago, Chile.

"It took us the first 20 minutes to get into the match. After that we caught up and Chile came close to scoring two or three times. After that it was more controlled, more at the same level with clear opportunities. It stayed that way until the second half where we had two favorable situations with Enner Valencia, one hit the crossbar and the other was diverted at the end. The dubious play came at the end of the second half. We watched it again. A penalty at the discretion of the referee," said the Ecuador coach with Argentinian and Bolivian nationality.

Quinteros maintained that the host nation's goals were merely based on errors throughout his interview with Copa America.

"After one bad pass backwards, Chile were allowed to win the match. However, I am pleased with how the match went from after 20 or 30 minutes and I am trying not to think about the mistakes that ended in goals," said Quinteros.

But he admitted that the match had been useful.

"The match has helped us to draw conclusions and to grow as a team during the tournament. Equally I think that we could have played much better. However you need to give the players time to adapt, (...) we hope that the next matches will help the team grow," said Quinteros.

Ecuador will face Bolivia on Monday for their next match in the world's oldest international continental competition.

The match marked the first one in group A which also includes Mexico and Bolivia who will play each other on Friday at 20:30 local time (23:30 GMT) to conclude the first matches of the group. Endi