Cerro Porteño lost their home match against General Díaz 0-1, after they dominated throughout the game but failed to create chances. They set up in a 4-2-4/4-2-3-1 with Sergio Díaz often dropping deeper to play as a 10. General Díaz set up in a 4-2-3-1 with Bareiro as a sole striker. He struggled to hold up play at times due to bad decision-making which made it hard for General Díaz to keep in possession. They created a few chances and scored one of them in the 73th minute. In the end it was an undeserved win for General Díaz a week prior to their 5-1 loss against Libertad.
Ratings
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Santiago Arzamendia
- Nationality: Paraguayan (born in Argentina)
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 05-05-1998
- Club: Club Cerro Porteño
- Career: Club Cerro Porteño (Y)
- Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Santiago Arzamendia played as a left-back in this match. He often positioned himself near the halfway line while sticking close to the sideline when Cerro Porteño built it out from the back. When he received the ball in this position, he would either pass it to the left central midfielder or to the left winger. His passing was accurate in general and he showed that he has a good passing technique. When he would get put under pressure, he would play out of the pressure constantly by carrying the ball inside or just passing it to a teammate.
In the final third, he looked comfortable in making both over- and underlapping runs which created more variation in attack. He often made overlapping runs though and had right-back Barreto as his direct opponent, as he got dragged out of position often by Arzamendia. The Paraguayan left-back is skilful under pressure and very busy in the final third. He is always involved in the attacking phase of play but did not create any chances in this match, even though he had some good pre-assists as he was capable of playing a through pass to the underlapping run of the left winger.
Arzamendia had good dribbling ability thanks to his acceleration and agility but did not attempt too many dribbles as he often kept it simple and he made sure that Cerro Porteño kept in possession. When defending, Arzamendia would close the gap towards his direct opponent quickly, forcing him backwards. His opponent could not get past him when Arzamendia was close to him and could not beat him when attempting a dribble far from goal. This was due to Arzamendia being agile, having good acceleration and making sure to push his direct opponent backwards. He did well to not make unnecessary fouls in these situations.
Santiago Arzamendia worked very hard throughout the game and sometimes needed to track back while being in a very high position up the pitch. His good pace helped him track back, but his mentality of constantly tracking back and contributing to defence was incredible.
Rating – A1
Another impressive performance by the left-back. I think he would suit well at PSV, Feyenoord, Club Brugge or AZ, but I am not sure whether they are able to afford him.
Mathías Villasanti
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 24-01-1997
- Club: Club Cerro Porteño
- Career: Club Cerro Porteño (Y), Club Atlético Temperley (L), Sportivo Luqueño (L), Club Cerro Porteño
- Position: Central Midfield
- Secondary position: Right Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Mathias Villasanti played as a right central midfielder in this match. He often dropped deeper to support the build-up and moved between the lines to get into space and open up passing lanes. When he received the ball in space, he did well to open his body to be able to touch the ball forward and make a somewhat progressive run when he had the space to do so. During the times that there was an opponent who would try to put pressure on Villasanti, he would either pass it backwards or sideways to one of the full-backs.
He swapped this role often with Juan Aguilar and when he played higher up the pitch, he would play as right central midfielder. Most of their attacks were on the left side of the pitch and Villasanti had a quiet performance, as well as the other players on the right wing of Cerro Porteño. Villasanti is a progressive player though – he likes to either run forward with the ball or play the pass forward and move forward. The Paraguayan midfielder looked dominant on the ball and felt comfortable combining with his teammates in the tight spaces.
In defence, Villasanti used his agility and acceleration to close gaps quickly and was capable of making some interceptions. He was active in defence and made sure to keep an eye out for the defensive structure.
Rating – A1
It was a quiet performance of Villasanti but he possesses the quality to play in a better league. I think that a move to the MLS, Brazil or Argentina would make sense.
Sergio Díaz
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Date of birth: 05-03-1998
- Age: 22
- Club: Real Madrid, on loan at Cerro Porteño
- Career: Cerro Porteño (Y), CD Lugo (L), Corinthians (L), Cerro Porteño (L)
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary position: Right Wing and Second Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Sergio Díaz played as a second striker in this match, but often operated as an attacking midfielder or as a winger, as he liked to drift wide or drop deeper to support the build-up and receive the ball often. He liked to put his body between the opponent and the ball, and despite having a small-build, he held his own well in these duels and managed to hold the ball in a lot of occasions. It helped that he is very agile, quick and skilful. He had a good touch which helped him to turn even quicker and this helped him to turn away from Pablo Meza in one occasion where he nearly scored.
He had good shot power but failed to aim for the corners and sometimes took the wrong decision to shoot instead of pass. The Real Madrid loanee held up play well at times and showed good patience to hold the ball rather than attempting a dribble to eventually lose the ball. He roamed around the pitch during the match. Díaz could often be found on the left wing, but also near the halfway line supporting the build-up. He was good in the 1v1 duels as he could skip past his defenders easily using his good acceleration and agility.
He opened up a passing lane at the right time as he moved between the lines very well and got into space at the right times, allowing Cerro Porteño to move higher up the pitch and progress further up the pitch. In defence, he battled well but did not do that much as it wasn’t his role to defend.
Rating – A2
I don’t expect him to make it at Real Madrid but he could certainly play for in a better league than the Paraguayan in the future.
Josué Colmán
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 25-07-1998
- Club: Orlando City, on loan at Cerro Porteño
- Career: Cerro Porteño (Y), Orlando City
- Position: Attacking Midfield
- Secondary position: Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Josué Colman played as a right winger in this match. While he made a good impression coming from the bench against Nacional Asuncion, he looked average in this match and could not make an impression in this match. He often was sticking close to the sideline awaiting the pass and attracting the left-back of General Diaz to close the gap. He dragged him out of position often and this opened up space on the right wing for Cerro Porteño, even though they did not use this space.
He had miscommunication with his teammates sometimes as he played a through pass to his teammate while his teammate would drop deeper and vice versa. However, Josué Colman proved again that he is a very skilful player. He managed to glide past his opponent using his good acceleration, agility and changes of directions. He showed good vision and had a good ball control, but did not use this that many times in the match against General Diaz.
In the end it was a very quiet game for Colman.
Rating – B2
He could have been more actively trying to get into space and should have used his creativity and vision more to help Cerro Porteño create chances.
Target Scouting 