Ecuador media slaughters Jose Cifuentes performance as Rangers star hooked early in win v Bolivia
Jose Cifuentes was torn to shreds by the Ecuadorian media after the Rangers midfielder struggled to impress in Ecuador’s win over Bolivia on Thursday night.
Cifuentes, 24, was hooked off 55 minutes into Ecuador’s 2026 World Cup qualifier in La Paz with his teammates going on to win the game 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Kevin Rodriguez in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
It’s fair to say that the midfielder hasn’t hit the ground running at Ibrox since joining from LAFC in the summer and it seems his poor form has also spread into his international performances.
Radio Diblu panelist Rogelio Arosemena took to Twitter to rip into Cifuentes.
He said: “José Cifuentes must be presented as a more useful tool.
“He is doing the minimum, he does not take risks and he does not transcend.
“It lacks explosiveness, dynamics and creation.”
Radio Diblu journalist Kevin Verdezoto added that Cifuentes had “no influence” and that his opportunities with Ecuador are “running out due to poor performance”.
AG Deportes radio broadcaster Sidney Galarza was less than impressed by Rangers’ midfielder, taking to Twitter to say: “Jordy Caicedo and José Cifuentes [were] the lowest performers in La Paz.”
Newspaper Primacias awarded the ex-LAFC man with a match rating of 5/10, saying: “He was called upon to promote the circulation of the ball, but he made too many impressions and was not the partner that Moisés [Caicedo] needed. With his departure at 55′, the impression was left that his opportunities to show that he deserves to be a starter have run out.”
Not good
It’s been quite the shift for Cifuentes.
He’d been used to playing for LAFC and Ecuador, where there’s not that much of a time difference but now he’s got to travel over 5,600 miles from Glasgow to Quito on international breaks.
The midfielder also has to get used to a six-hour time difference from the UK to the South American nation, who’ll have high hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Cifuentes is a victim of a terrible summer campaign by Michael Beale and a terrible start to the season.
There’s clearly a player in there somewhere but it just hasn’t been discovered yet.
Can a new manager get him to perform the way he was at LAFC?
We’ll have to wait and see because there’s a huge difference between MLS football and football in the Scottish Premiership and Cifuentes is clearly find that out the hard way.
In other Rangers news, another Gers player has had an international nightmare.