Ecuador name new striker prospects in provisional squad

Quito: Ecuador coach Reinaldo Rueda named three untested strikers, Cristian Penilla, Angel Mena and Armando Wila, in his provisional 30-man squad on Tuesday for the World Cup finals.

Wila, who is top scorer in the Ecuadorean first division, and Penilla and Mena will be vying for a place in Rueda`s definitive 23-man squad which he must name by June 2. The trio are not in Amsterdam for Saturday`s World Cup warm-up against the Dutch but Rueda, who has a wealth of attacking talent on the wings, is concerned about finding some depth at centre forward after Christian Benitez died unexpectedly last year aged 27. North American-based midfielders Michael Arroyo and Oswaldo Minda earned a recall after missing the South American qualifiers. Ecuador face Switzerland, Honduras and France in Group E at the June 12-July 13 tournament. Squad: Goalkeepers: Maximo Banguera (Barcelona SC), Alexander Dominguez (LDU Quito), Adrian Bone (El Nacional) Defenders: Frickson Erazo (Flamengo), Jorge Guagua, Jhon Narvaez, Oscar Bagui, Gabriel Achilier (all Emelec), Walter Ayovi (Pachuca), Juan Carlos Paredes (Barcelona SC), Cristian Ramirez (Fortuna Duesseldorf) Midfielders: Segundo Castillo (Al-Hilal), Carlos Gruezo (VfB Stuttgart), Renato Ibarra (Vitesse Arnhem), Cristian Noboa (Dynamo Moscow), Pedro Quinonez (Emelec), Luis Saritama (Barcelona SC), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United), Edison Mendez (Independiente Santa Fe), Fidel Martinez (Tijuana), Oswaldo Minda (Chivas USA), Michael Arroyo (Atlante) Forwards: Felipe Caicedo (Al-Jazira), Jefferson Montero (Morelia), Joao Rojas (Cruz Azul), Armando Wila (Universidad Catolica, Ecuador), Jaime Ayovi (Tijuana), Enner Valencia (Pachuca), Cristian Penilla (Barcelona SC), Angel Mena (Emelec)