Club Olimpia played a tough away match against league leaders Cerro Porteño. They set up in a 4-4-2 and tried to build up patiently, but failed to do so often as Cerro Porteño pressed the backline of Olimpia well. After Aquino’s wonder goal at the end of the first half, Olimpia tried to bounce back but they did not create many chances. Even after some attacking-minded subs (Fernando Cardozo & Diego Duarte) they did not create many chances and apart from some shots from a long distance they did not come close to an equalizer.
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, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Mateo Gamarra
Player profile:
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 20/10/2000
- Current club: Club Olimpia (on loan from Independiente FBC)
- Career: Independiente FBC, 12 de Octubre (L), Olimpia (L)
- Position: Left-Back
- Secondary position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Left
Mateo Gamarra started as a left-back against league leaders Cerro Porteño. He had a performance where he showed a lot of determination and passion, but this also led to some mistakes which need to be worked on.
Gamarra rarely stayed in his defensive line and liked to defend aggressively. He stepped up very often and closed down his opponent aggressively. This often meant that his opponent had to play a sideways or backwards pass, but it happened often that his opponent made a run in behind after he played that pass. There was a lot of space in Gamarra’s back, because he stepped up so aggressively.
Even though Gamarra turned quite quickly and is not the slowest, he failed to win these sprint duels against right-midfielder Alan Benitez. This also led to a yellow card for Gamarra, after he had to make a foul to prevent his opponent from shooting towards goal. His aggressiveness in the defensive duels sometimes led to him intercepting the ball, which was good, but sometimes he was too wild and should have stayed composed. If he would have looked at the ball more in some duels, he would not have been dribbled past or lost the duel.
The 21-year-old allowed his opponent to put many crosses into the box, which were often quite dangerous. He also failed to cut the passing lane towards Alan Benitez when dealing with a cross as he failed to scan well, even though he looked behind him quite a few times Benitez still managed to sneak away from the young defender. Gamarra had great stamina and showed great determination throughout the match. In the defensive third, Gamarra did scan well and he spotted runs of opponents very well.
On the ball, Gamarra played many simple passes and his passing technique was alright. He was not that accurate in his passing.
Rating – B2
Mateo Gamarra showed a decent level in this match for the Paraguayan league, but he did not show a lot of potential to ever play in the top 5 leagues. However, with more experience in the Paraguayan league he could become a very good left-back for Olimpia if they buy him. Maybe Gamarra would be better suited to playing as a central defender.
Saul Salcedo
Player profile:
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 29/08/1997
- Current club: Club Olimpia
- Career: Club Olimpia, Huracán, Club Olimpia
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Right
Saul Salcedo played as the right central defender for Club Olimpia in the away match against league leaders Cerro Porteño. Overall, he did not do much wrong apart from one situation but he also did not impress that much. The central defender who played for Huracan before looked really comfortable on the ball. He mainly played simple, sideways passes to the right-back Otalvaro or left central defender Alcaraz, but all of his passes were accurate and with good pace. Salcedo sometimes carried the ball forward cautiously before playing a long pass to one of the strikers. He showed great technique when doing so and his long passes were really accurate.
Defensively, the former Huracan player positioned himself well when dealing with crosses from Cerro Porteño’s right flank. He cleared a lot of crosses and managed to prevent Cerro Porteño from becoming dangerous from their crosses, apart from in one situation where Mateo Gamarra did not defend well. Sometimes Salcedo should have stuck closer to left central defender Alcaraz when the experienced defender got dragged out wide, as this opened up a lot of space for Cerro Porteño’s attacker to run into. Salcedo stayed in position in these situations and failed to adapt his positioning to Alcaraz’s position. The central defender looked strong in the defensive duels, he always kept his opponent in front of him and managed to win most duels.
In the first half, Club Olimpia nearly conceded because Salcedo was not paying attention when Cerro Porteño had a quick throw-in. A Cerro Porteño attacker managed to make a run in behind and obviously was not offside from the throw-in. Salcedo was lucky that Olimpia goalkeeper Alfredo Aguilar was attentive in this situation. Another mistake was made by Salcedo in the second half when Olimpia had a very attacking mindset. Robert Morales, the substitute Cerro Porteño striker, made a good run in behind and had a 1v1 chance. However, Salcedo closed the gap well showing good recovery speed, but the 24-year-old defender came sliding in and overcommitted. Morales cut away from Salcedo and managed to nearly score. Salcedo should have stayed on his feet and looked at the ball, instead of blindly making a slide tackle.
Rating – B1
I think that Saul Salcedo is a really good central defender for Club Olimpia, and perhaps he could have another go in the Argentinian or Brazilian league, but I think he will always stay in South America and not be successful in Europe. However, this does not mean that I did not like Salcedo.