Gomez - turbulent route to the Finals. (Allsport)

By Mike Perez, PA International

Click here for more Ecuador news
Click here for more World Cup news

If Bill Shankly had lived to meet Hernan Dario Gomez, the Ecuador coach, he might have been persuaded to review his famous adage.

Shankly, the legendary former Liverpool chief, once professed: "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

The Scottish sage truly had little experience of football in South America.

Gomez was assistant coach of his native Colombia when defender Andres Escobar was shot dead outside a Medellin restaurant after scoring an own goal against hosts United States at the 1994 World Cup.

And in May of 2001, Gomez himself was shot in the leg and had his nose broken after being attacked by a group of men in a hotel in the Ecuadorian port of Guayaquil.

That attack, believed to be football-related, saw Gomez tender his resignation to the Ecuadorian authorities.

The decision looked set to rip the national team apart and end a World Cup dream as star players Ivan Kaviedes, Alex Aguinaga and Agustin Delgado all threatened to quit if Gomez departed.

But public support swayed Gomez and the 45-year-old returned to lead Ecuador into the World Cup finals for the first time in their history.

He said on his return to national team duty: "I feel more and more moved by the affection, love and solidarity that exists among Ecuadorians, or the union that exists."

Ecuador finished second to Argentina in the CONMEBOL qualifying group, having beaten Paraguay, Chile and four-times World Cup winners Brazil.

And, although they have drawn three sides ranked in the world's top 20 - Italy, Croatia and Mexico - in their first-round group, Gomez is determined his side will not go to Japan and Korea as whipping boys.

"The most important thing is that Ecuadorians know that Ecuador are going to the World Cup to learn," he added.

"Since it's our first experience we are going to learn, but that doesn't mean we're going to comply - just the opposite, we're going to compete."

After playing their first international in 1938, Ecuador won only two matches in their first 25 years and subsequent progress has been slow coming.

Gomez added: "Football has its moments and right now there's a lot of interest in what is happening here in Ecuador."

The question now is how far Ecuador can now progress on the grandest of football stages.

If Gomez's adopted country can take setbacks as well as he has, Ecuador's greatest hour might still await them.