Blooming U20 faced Sporting Cristal U20 in the first match of the 2022 edition of the Copa Libertadores U20. Blooming set up in a 4-3-3 formation and tried to build out from the back, but failed to do so a lot of times. This also led to the 0-1 for Sporting Cristal, as a bad pass by (I think it was) Hector Suarez led to possession loss in their own half which led to the 0-1. The 0-2 also was a moment in which Blooming defended very badly, as José Eduardo Bálcazar failed to track the run from his opponent. Early in the second half they conceded another goal after some mistakes in defence. Sporting Cristal then cruised to victory and scored another goal. Both teams did not look good in this match, but Blooming definitely deserved at least one goal. Sergio Ferreira missed a penalty in the last minute too.
Youth Ratings
1 – Ready for the first team
2 – Good, potential to be first team
3 – Decent, could make first team squad
4 – Decent potential, unlikely to make it to first team
5 – Unlikely to make first team
Guilmar Centella
Player profile:
- Nationality: Bolivian
- Age: 16
- Date of birth: 26/03/2005
- Club: Blooming
- Career: Blooming
- Position: Right Winger
- Preferred foot: Left
Guilmar Centella played as Blooming’s right winger in the match against Sporting Cristal. He had a very lively first half, but showed less energy in the second half and seemed to run out of gas later on in the second half. The winger has a low centre of gravity and showed good footwork in the attacking one v one duels. His ability to use quick feints in the one v one duels and quick reaction time to his opponent’s defensive actions helped him to get away from his marker every time. Centella always cut back to his stronger left foot, from which he tried to find his teammates in space. Especially left winger Matheo Becerra made some good runs into space and Centella had the vision and technical ability to find his teammates.
The Bolivian youngster showed excellent cross passing, long through passing and short passing in this match. He timed his through passes very well and most of his through passes were accurate. Centella timed his runs quite well, too, and looked dangerous every time he got onto the ball in the final third. The 16-year-old sometimes had an average first touch under pressure and he sometimes had a sloppy touch while not being put under pressure at times too. Guilmar Centella moved inside at the right time to drag the defender with him which opened up space for Blooming’s right-back to receive the ball without being put under pressure immediately.
The main problem with Guilmar Centella is his height and weight. He stands at just 1,60m and only weighs 59kg, according to World Football. This is not sufficient to make it at a higher level and this makes him less interesting for higher profile teams. Centella is quick on the first meters, but struggles to maintain that pace over a longer distance.
Rating – 2
Guilmar Centella has excellent technical ability and this will help him make it into the first team of Blooming. However, his lack of physical ability could hinder him throughout his career as there are only a few players with his height who are playing at the highest level.
Matheo Becerra
Player profile:
- Nationality: Bolivian
- Age: 16
- Date of birth: 01/06/2005
- Club: Blooming
- Career: Blooming
- Position: Left Winger
- Preferred foot: Left
Matheo Becerra had a quiet match for Blooming in their opening match of the Copa Libertadores, but still showed some potential as he is still young and had some promising moments. In possession, Matheo Becerra provided width for Blooming and made sure that the right-back of Sporting Cristal had to make a lot of decisions throughout the match. The winger of Blooming often had the better of his opponent. He showed good anticipation in duels with his direct opponent, as he either stepped forward to touch the ball before his opponent or he waited for his opponent to try to recover possession before taking a progressive touch. In these situations, his opponent missed the ball.
Matheo Becerra played a good one-two with Sergio Ferreira in the first half to progress the ball into the box. However, he was quite easily pushed off the ball by the defender of Sporting Cristal. The Bolivian winger made some good runs in behind and travelled into space often. He was found in space by Guilmar Centella quite often and he had one relatively big chance, in which he showed good technical ability to direct the ball towards goal, but he just missed the target. Becerra has good acceleration on the ball and often moved on the outside, trying to put in a cross with his left foot. The crosses on his left foot had too much power a few times, but one cross of him eventually led to the penalty for Blooming.
Off the ball, he showed good determination to keep pressing his opponent and this helped Blooming to recover possession a few times. Later in the game, he looked very tired and to be out of gas.
Rating – 2
I think that he will make it into the first team of Blooming, but I do not think that his potential reaches any further than the Bolivian league at this point. I will probably see him two more times this tournament.
Daniel Lino
Player profile:
- Nationality: Bolivian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 18/02/2002
- Club: Blooming
- Career: Blooming
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Left
Daniel Lino played as the left central defender for Blooming under 20 in the opening match of the Copa Libertadores under 20. He showed a few good signs, but also had some clear weaknesses in this match. Lino did not properly deal with over the top through passes as he failed to anticipate where the ball would go which led to a dangerous moment in front of Blooming’s goal. The defender dealt with crosses well. He was quick to follow his opponent and looked light on his feet. Lino did not look smart in the ground duels, he tried to pull his opponent but failed to get close to the ball every time. When his opponent would move slightly backwards, Lino would get back into position. In aerial duels he seemed to time his leap quite well and I think he won most of his aerial duels.
Lino was unlucky at the 4-0. He had to defend a 2v1 situation and cut the (through) passing lane to his opponent off, waited until his opponent passed the ball before turning around quickly and tackling his opponent. He was unlucky that the ball ricochet towards the Sporting Cristal attacker which led to the 4-0. Daniel Lino has very good mobility. There was one situation when Blooming were 4-0 down and his teammate was stuck in a defensive 2v1 situation. He jogged back instead of sprinting back and this nearly led to the 5-0. He could have been sent off in the first half after he closed the gap towards the wing, but he was too late with his slide tackle. When he stepped up he should have been more composed as he sometimes missed the ball.
On the ball, he was very inconsistent. His over the ground passes were quite accurate and powerful, but his long passing was very inconsistent. His long passes sometimes lacked accuracy and were played with the wrong power and pace.
Rating – 2
Daniel Lino has already played matches for the first team and is good enough to feature in Blooming’s squad. There are plenty of aspects that Lino needs to improve on though. His good mobility can certainly help him progress further in his career.
Sergio Ferreira
Player profile:
- Nationality: Bolivian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 17/11/2003
- Club: Blooming
- Career: Blooming
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Sergio Ferreira played as a striker in the 4-3-3 formation of Blooming. The Bolivian striker was very unlucky in front of goal and missed a penalty in the last minute. He always was composed on the ball and showed good hold-up play, picking out the right passes and getting into possession at the right times. There was one moment where he made a good run into the box before cutting away from his marker to his stronger right foot, but his shot went just over the goal. Sergio Ferreira has a good first touch and his ball control was good too. Ferreira timed most of his runs well and had decent vision in the final third to spot his teammates, but he failed to pull the passes off, often trying a backheel pass which went into the right direction but just did not make it to his teammate.
He linked up well with his teammates in the smaller spaces, apart from one situation in which he seemed to lose balance. This could have led to a big chance as Becerra would have been through on goal if the pass was right. Ferreira often made a run to the front post when in the box and Centella often tried to find him, but the defence of Sporting Cristal did well to block those crosses. Ferreira had one situation in which he handled really quickly, he received the ball on the edge of the box and only needed one touch before shooting. However, he failed to direct the ball towards the goal. In another situation he had the chance to score a header but he failed to put power on his header.
Physically, I think Ferreira lacks acceleration and pace over a long distance. He looked tired after approximately 60 minutes, too. Ferreira did well to press the backline and force the goalkeeper to go for the long pass.
Rating – 2
I think that the Bolivian league will be Ferreira’s ceiling for now, but his composure on the ball was very good. He showed good movement in the box and helped Blooming create a few chances, but he needs to improve his finishing.
Target Scouting 