Sunderland Youngster Enjoys Major Career Milestone On International Duty

Sunderland youngster Juan Riquelme Angulo has enjoyed a major career milestone amid the international break, netting his first senior goal for the Ecuador national team in a friendly against Panama.

In a second-half substitute cameo, Angulo scored a right-footed shot from the centre of the opposition's box into the bottom right corner, finishing off a fast break by Ecuador to bring the scores back level after Panama forward Josue Vergara's first-half opener.

Surprisingly, the international friendly fixture went to penalties, seeing Panama beat Ecuador 7-6 in the shootout with Black Cats winger Nilson Angulo scoring one from the spot for the Ecuadorians.

For 18-year-old Angulo's part, the friendly appearance against Panama was his third senior appearance for the senior Ecuador national side, after making six appearances at the CONMEBOL Under-17s tournament last year, in which he netted once. 

After arriving from Ecuadorian top flight outfit Independiente del Valle for £5m late on deadline day, the Sunderland prospect is yet to make his senior debut under Regis Le Bris, with his first outing in the red-and-white stripes coming for the Under-21s in a 3-1 win over Norwich City's Under-21s in September.

Those in Sunderland circles will be both proud of the young talent for netting his first senior international goal and consequently excited as to what Angulo can bring to Sunderland in the coming stages of the season, with a potential first-team debut on the cards.

The Stadium of Light transfer team pulled off a substantial coup with the signing of the 18-year-old, considering 6'4" Angulo was tracked by Manchester United and Barcelona before signing for Sunderland on deadline day on a five-year deal.

As a result of Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor's importance in the goalscoring department for Sunderland, the need and opportunity for first-team minutes could be hard to come by for the young striker this season, but the Black Cats have a cautious plan in place for Angulo's development.

On Angulo, Le Bris said in September: "Probably [will take a cautious approach], but we never know.

"We had, for example, a huge duel in small side games between Brian [Brobbey] and Juan - you don't want to be in the middle of that!

"He needs experiences, he needs time, but I think he's already experienced for a young player, so I'm looking forward to seeing him more of him."

Clearly, Angulo has the natural physical traits to cope with the demands of Premier League football, and the performances for Ecuador during the international break will only aid the 18-year-old with match sharpness and senior experience.

With Brobbey forced off with a hamstring injury for the Netherlands during the international break, the timeline for Angulo's senior Sunderland debut could be brought forward depending on the potential severity of the Dutch number nine's diagnosis.

Therefore, with Angulo training well with his Sunderland teammates and taking the next step in his career with his first senior goal for the senior Ecuador side, it would not be surprising to see Le Bris hand the exciting young talent his Black Cats debut in the coming months of the campaign.

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