Jordi Cruyff steps down as Ecuador coach

Updated Jul. 23, 2020 6:36 p.m. ET

Associated Press

Jordi Cruyff has stepped down as Ecuador coach without leading the national team in any games.

The Ecuadorian soccer federation said Thursday it had agreed to end the Spanish-Dutch coach's contract at the request of Cruyff, who is the son of soccer great Johan Cruyff.

“The coach of the national team communicated his resignation to the president of the federation," the federation said in a statement. “All contractual clauses will be respected, including the one of damages for unilateral termination of contract by the coach.”

The 46-year-old Jordi Cruyff, a former Barcelona and Manchester United midfielder, had signed a three-year contract in January before the coronavirus pandemic interrupted the international season.

With the permission of the federation, Cruyff has not been to the South American nation since March.

South American World Cup qualifiers are set to begin in less than three months. Ecuador’s first match will be against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

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