Huachipato FC beat Coquimbo Unido 2-1 away from home in which was an eventful match where the under 23 players were not that involved. Huachipato dominated possession and tried to build up patiently but the central defenders mainly chose for cross passes or sideways passes which did not allow the midfielders of Huachipato to get involved in the build-up as much as they would have probably liked to. The visitors were lucky not to concede the equalizer in the last few minutes as Pinilla missed a penalty for Coquimbo Unido in the 94th minute. Huachipato’s two goals were both mistakes by Martin Cano, who gave away the ball outside his box and gave away a penalty.
Nicolas Ramirez
- Nationality: Chilean
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 1/5/1997
- Current club: Huachipato FC
- Career: Universidad de Chile & Deportes Temuco
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Nicolas Ramirez played as a right central defender for Huachipato FC in the match against Coquimbo Unido. The Chilean defender is a proactive defender that likes to defend with a lot of space in his back. He is quite aggressive in coming in front of his opponent and wants to close gaps towards the wing quite often, as Huachipato play a medium-high defensive line with attacking full-backs that are often stepping out of the defensive line. However, Nicolas Ramirez occasionally missed the interception when trying to close the gap which could have gotten Huachipato FC in more trouble.
In possession, Nicolas Ramirez failed to control the ball once in the build-up which got Huachipato nearly into trouble. This seemed like a lack of concentration as he looked press-resistant in a lot of other situations and he controlled the ball well when he was being put under pressure on most occasions. Nicolas Ramirez had a good cross pass and was not afraid to play cross passes with both feet. His right foot looked a lot better than his left foot. Also, he dribbled it out from the back at once occasion, getting past several opponents before releasing a very good cross pass towards the left wing with his right foot.
In other words, it looks like Nicolas Ramirez, in contrary to the previous match report on him, is a decent defender for this league who has some concentration issues at times. On the ball, he is good but can always improve by finding the midfield more often instead of passing it sideways.
Rating – B1
I think that he will most likely stay in this league for a long period before maybe moving to a better league in a few years notice.
Ignacio Tapia
- Nationality: Chilean
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 22/2/1999
- Current club: Huachipato FC
- Career: Huachipato FC
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Ignacio Tapia formed a central duo with Nicolas Ramirez in the match against Coquimbo Unido and failed to impress me, while being very good in the first two matches that I saw him play in. The Chilean 21-year-old did well to close gaps towards the wing, as Huachipato play a medium-high defensive line with attacking full-backs that are often stepping out of the defensive line. He always checked his shoulder when doing so but did not take any risks when he recovered possession in these situations, often playing a long pass down the wing without really having a target.
The defender got turned by the experienced Pinilla on one occasion, as the latter leaned into him with his back to the goal which made Tapia lose balance quite a bit. This made it easy for Pinilla to turn him and play a through pass to his teammate who nearly got a chance to score. Ignacio Tapia could have done better in this situation. However, he looked a lot stronger and more confident in other duels where his opponent did not lean into him. In these situations, he managed to recover possession easily. Ignacio Tapia did well to coach his teammate when they needed to take over his man.
The 21-year-old liked to step out of the defensive line to put pressure on his opponent and rarely got caught out of position. He could improve his defensive headers since he gave the ball away fairly easily when he headed the ball clear. In possession, Ignacio Tapia sometimes looked to play a cross pass with his left foot which he did well, but often played it sideways to Nicolas Ramirez or Cristian Cuevas. As Nicolas Ramirez, he could try to play more powerful passes into the midfield through the lines.
In general, it was a decent performance by Ignacio Tapia but he showed some weaknesses that I have not seen before. His speed on the turn is something to keep an eye out for, as he lost his balance in this certain situation which could have been the reason for him not turning quickly. However, I will need to rewatch Tapia in order to assess that.
Rating – A2
Joffre Escobar
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 24-10-1996
- Club: Huachipato FC
- Career: Rocafuerte (Y), Independiente del Valle (Y), Deportivo Cuenca (Y), Gualaceo SC (L), Fuerza Amarilla SC, CD América de Quito, Universidad San Martín de Deportes, Huachipato FC
Joffre Escobar played as a right winger on paper in this match, but was playing as a striker for the most part of the game, despite moving to the right side in some occasions. The Ecuadorian attacker had good movement and patience in the final third to get into space but failed to convert the chances that he got, because he seemed quite wild in these situations which did not help him. I think that he got into scoring position at least three or four times and he definitely should have scored in the match against Coquimbo Unido.
The attacker got more involved later in the first half when he drifted wide more. He did well to spot his teammates in space but failed to get his crosses and final passes into good areas. Joffre Escobar kept calm in the final third until he needed to finish but his calmness did help him to dribble past players, even though he is not the most agile and did not look mobile at times. The Ecuadorian 23-year-old was not the most skilled in the tight spaces and it did not look like he has that much potential.
Rating – B2
I can not see him making it into a better league based on this match, but I think that he scored the last time I watched him and liked him more there. However, I did not make a match report on him that time and was mainly focusing on Tapia and Ramirez. Also, he has scored three goals in seven matches in the league which is not bad.
Target Scouting 