Sports Desk:

An early goal from Villarreal left-back Pervis Estupinan fired Ecuador to a 1-0 win over Nigeria in their friendly here on Friday.

Estupinan met an Angel Mena set piece with a downward header at the far post that left goalkeeper Francis Uzoho with no chance.

The South American outfit were mostly content to sit back thereafter as they eased to a victory that never seemed in doubt at Red Bull arena.

Ecuador will continue their preparations for this year’s World Cup with friendlies against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabe over the next week.

Ecuador manager Gustavo Alfaro said before the match that he would use the friendlies to fine-tune preparation for the World Cup, to be played in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.

Ecuador have been drawn in Group A of football’s showpiece tournament alongside the hosts, the Netherlands and Senegal.