Enner Valencia, now retired from Ecuador duty, asks for patience with Gallardo and rules out a comeback

Some farewells come with tears, others come with someone else's goals celebrated as if they were your own. Enner Valencia chose the second kind: the crowd gave him an ovation during Boca Juniors' rout of Unión in the Torneo Clausura, the Ecuadorian forward set up a goal, and once the match was over, he sat down to talk about something with no going back: his departure from the Ecuador national team.

Speaking with 'Doble 5', Valencia didn't dodge the question he gets asked most these days: how things are going for Marcelo Gallardo at the helm of La Tri. Far from any criticism, the forward asked for patience with the new era.

It's tough walking into a group like this, the way Gallardo has now. We know it's going to be hard at first, but all of us Ecuadorians need to trust him and support him so everything works out.Enner Valencia

A bond that hasn't broken

Even though he no longer wears the national team jersey, Valencia made clear his phone still rings with familiar names. He's spoken with several of his former teammates, the ones he shared a locker room with for years.

I've talked with a lot of them, with Franco, with Galíndez, with Preciado, I've spoken with all of them.Enner Valencia

Here's the funny thing: Valencia's exit hasn't lowered the demand to see him back with La Tri. Quite the opposite. After his hat trick against Racing in the Copa Argentina, social media and his inbox filled up with pleas for him to reconsider retirement. But Ecuador's all-time top scorer was firm on the matter.

I had a lot of messages, but my family and I made the decision to stop, to say goodbye to the national team. Now they'll have one more fan from over here, and I wish them all the best and I'll always support the national team.Enner Valencia

There's no turning the page back on that chapter. After the last World Cup, where the team fell short of expectations, Valencia decided to close out a cycle in which he ended up becoming, fittingly, Ecuador's all-time leading scorer. A number that's not up for debate, even if his future now wears a different jersey.

Because that future, these days, has a name: Boca Juniors. Valencia showed himself fully focused on his present at the club, the same club that gave him an ovation this weekend and is gradually welcoming him as one of its own. La Tri, as he put it himself, gained one more fan beyond the pitch. And that fan, whenever he talks about Gallardo or his old teammates, will always do so from the right distance: someone who has turned the page, but hasn't forgotten where he came from.