Ecuador use "The Cow" for players to moos over

BERLIN, June 20 (Reuters) Ecuador's players are not the most pampered in international soccer but coach Luis Fernando Suarez nonetheless ordered his players to read a Colombian fable called ''The Cow'' to ensure there is no complacency in the ranks.

The tale tells of a family living in lowly circumstances who depend on a single cow for survival and one day offer a master and servant food and shelter.

After they leave the next morning, the master orders his servant to go back and kill the cow, a deed that weighs on the servant's mind until he returns several years later to find a huge estate where the family's shack once stood.

Amazed, he knocks at the door and finds the same family living there.

The owner tells him: ''One morning we woke up and our cow was dead. We had no choice but to embark on a new life full of hard work and new challenges, which has led us to where we are today.'' Suarez said he had liked the metaphor in the story so much he bought 40 copies and distributed them to the squad.

''The reason was that the players should see that they have a very comfortable life and that if they want to achieve more they should do certain things,'' Suarez said yesterday.

To inspire them for the World Cup finals, the Colombian-born Suarez had told his players it was time to kill their cows.

Ecuador have already qualified for the knockout phase with wins over Poland and Costa Rica and play Germany in Berlin today. If they avoid defeat to the hosts they will top Group A and face the runners-up from Group B, probably Sweden.

REUTERS PDS BST0449