Impoverished valley feeds Ecuador talent

JUNCAL, Ecuador, May 24: Gleison Borja, a scrawny 10-year-old, sits on a dusty soccer field across from the dilapidated homes of his Ecuadorean village with a ball at his feet and dreams of stardom.

For Borja, whose tennis shoes are full of holes, that dream might just come true if he follows tradition in El Chota valley, which has become Ecuador's soccer talent factory.

El Chota, a small cluster of villages, is the birthplace of many of the top Ecuadorean players who have helped to take their country to its second World Cup in a row.

Seven out of the 23 players in the Germany-bound World Cup squad grew up in this impoverished valley.

''I want to be like Tin or even better, like Ronaldinho,'' said Borja, referring to Ecuador's top scorer Agustin ''Tin'' Delgado and the Brazilian World Player of the Year.

Taking a break from an afternoon game, Borja and half-a-dozen friends glance through glossy car magazines to pick out the models they will buy once they become professional soccer players.

''Tin was just like these kids,'' said Delgado's father Arturo, standing next to a rocky soccer pitch under a road bridge in Juncal.

''Life is very difficult here,'' added Delgado who still lives in a simple two-bedroom house decorated with posters of his son and the national team. ''But we all have hope, our kids give us hope.'' SUGAR CANE The slender 70-year-old Delgado senior, clad in a tan leather jacket with holes in its sleeves, is one of many residents here who can boast of having a relative or friend in the national squad.

El Chota, located 100 km north of Quito, is populated mostly by descendants of African slaves who toiled for centuries in the sugar cane fields skirting the Andes.

Most of its people survive on less than a day planting tomatoes and avocado, residents say. Alcoholism and teenage pregnancy are lingering problems.

Many young men here see soccer as their only way out of poverty and are eager to follow in the footsteps of successful native players such as Delgado.

Tall, slender teenagers play in local leagues in hopes of being spotted by the many scouts who prowl the valley in search of talent.

Scores have already left to try their luck with teams in the foggy capital, Quito.

''Today, every team has their eyes set on El Chota,'' said Jose Navarro, the managing editor of the soccer weekly Revista Estadio.

In the last 15 years, El Chota had experienced a soccer boom with its natives playing in nearly all of the country's top teams, he said.

''The example of successful players such as Agustin Delgado and the drive to escape poverty is the key to El Chota's success,'' Navarro added.

Others soccer experts say players from El Chota are usually taller and stronger than players from the highland and coast region.

That gives them an advantage on the pitch.

''These guys play in rough terrains, in rocky fields and without shoes,'' said Ernesto Guerra, a former coach of the national squad.

In Juncal, shoeless children play in the stony roads that serve as pitches with makeshift goals made out of wooden sticks.

Soccer here, however, is not only for the young or those trying to escape poverty.

The sport is a sacred weekend ritual for older farmers who during the week work long hours under the sizzling sun tending their land.

Many farmers have their own soccer leagues.

''Soccer is part of our nature,'' said Juan Minda, 48, a cousin of national defender Giovanny Espinoza and a tomato farmer. ''We work hard during the week but when it's time for soccer it's time for soccer.''

REUTERS