Enner Valencia: Ecuador captain once 'faked injury and escaped police in golf buggy' | OneFootball

Enner Valencia will lead Ecuador out at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The former West Ham and Everton striker might be a distant memory for many Premier League fans now.

But since departing England in 2017, he’s remained a top-level player and currently plies his trade in Turkey for Fenerbahce.

As a result of his sustained success in Europe, he is now the captain of Ecuador, and the striker has proven something of a talisman for his nation as they booked their passage to Qatar as the fourth best South American team.

However, with Valencia now back in the limelight once again, many fans have chosen to remember a series of events involving the star which might just be some of the craziest scenes you have ever witnessed on the international stage.

What did Valencia do?

Valencia was taking part in a World Cup qualifier for Ecuador vs Chile in 2016.

In the final few minutes of the game, he was put on a stretcher and given oxygen with the star signalling that he may be suffering with altitude sickness.

What happened next was just pure gold.

As a golf buggy whisked him out of the stadium, members of the local police force went into hot pursuit of Valencia and attempted to run after the buggy.

As many as 12 officers were involved in his attempted capture, with the police reportedly pursuing the Ecuadorian international for £13,000 worth of unpaid child maintenance bills.

Ridiculously, Valencia actually managed to evade the clutches of the police and escaped.

Check out the crazy video below.

WATCH: Valencia escapes the clutches of the police by faking injury

Paul Marin, the lawyer representing Valencia’s child’s mother, was absolutely furious with what happened.

“It’s lamentable that certain police officers didn’t collaborate with the detention of the footballer Enner Valencia, to ensure compliance with a judicial order,” Marin scoldingly said.

“If they say this man earns so much, why doesn’t he pay (the maintenance) monthly to his daughter.”

Hopefully Valencia has now squared off the issue with his ex-wife and the child is getting the correct level of maintenance.

It was six-years ago now, so the issue should be long in the rear-view mirror and Valencia will no doubt be fully focussed on maximising his World Cup with Ecuador.

Nevertheless, it’s still pretty darn funny to watch.

Can you name these 30 ‘streets won’t forget players’ from World Cups?

1 of 30

A nice easy start…

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