LDU Quito and Peñarol faced each other in the second matchday of the U20 Copa Libertadores. LDU Quito operated in a 4-2-3-1 and saw most of the possession in this game, trying to build out from the back. Peñarol liked to wait patiently for LDU Quito to make mistakes and created more chances than the Ecuadorians, thanks to mistakes by LDU. In the end, both sides missed a penalty but Peñarol managed to score two goals, winning the match 0-2 and securing a place in the next round of the Copa Libertadores U20.
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
Lenin Ayovi
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 01/06/2002
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito, Atletico Kin (L)
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Preferred foot: Right
Lenin Ayovi was LDU Quito’s goalkeeper and conceded two goals. The Ecuadorian goalkeeper stands at 190cm and has a slim build. He seemed like a good athlete, showing good agility and acceleration. Ayovi looked explosive when coming off his line and was always on time. He saw a lot of the ball during this game and looked composed on the ball. The 19-year-old mostly chose for an option nearby as LDU Quito wanted to build up patiently. He has a good short and long passing technique. His passing was quite accurate and consistent. The goalkeeper claimed the ball confidently when dealing with inswinging free-kicks and looked composed when receiving the ball. Most of the time he had safe hands but when he could not catch the ball he kept the ball close to him. Ayovi made some good saves, especially in the 1v1 as he was very quick to come off his line and he had decent reflexes too. The Ecuadorian should have been closer to the ground at the 0-2 as he was too late on the ground. At the 0-1, he did well to save Alonso’s effort but the rebound was scored. Peñarol also missed a penalty. Ayovi looked comfortable on both his right and left foot.
Rating – 2
I think he did not do much wrong this game and he showed that he is a good athlete. He looked really good in the first game and I am interested to see what the future holds for him.
Daniel De La Cruz
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 06/03/2004
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito
- Position: Right-Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Daniel de la Cruz played as a right-back for LDU Quito in this match. He stands at ~178cm and has a small build. When running in a straight line, De la Cruz seems to have a lot of power and he looks fast. However, it seems like he is not that agile and not capable of changing directions quickly when sprinting with the ball at his feet. The right-back lost most of his aerial duels, but looked strong in the ground duels, pushing Alonso off the ball quite easily. The Ecuadorian often looked to play over the top through passes over the touchline. His long passing technique was quite good, which helped him to be accurate with these passes. When being put under pressure, De la Cruz struggled to keep the ball close to him and his ball coordination looked bad. He has good short passing ability in the smaller spaces and was comfortable playing one-touch football. The youngster liked to take up a position in the half-space a bit higher up the pitch in the first phase of the build-up and has a good positional understanding, often swapping positions with right-winger Sosa. His defensive vision was not that great, not spotting the run of Alonso which led to the 0-1. In the build-up, he was not that involved as he mostly made space for Sosa to get on the ball. Most of his defensive actions were in the defensive or midfield third against Alonso. He rarely got on the ball in the final third and did not have a significant contribution in the attack.
Rating – 4
Daniel de la Cruz once again showed that his defensive vision is not good. His ball coordination when dribbling is not great. He also is not able to change directions quickly. However, his one-touch play in the smaller spaces and his strength in the duels, despite having a small build and only standing at ~178cm, is good. I think he should stay in LDU Quito’s youth set-up before moving to a mid-table Liga Pro team.
Luis Córdova
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 17/01/2003
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: Independiente del Valle, LDU Quito
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Right
Luis Cordova played as a right central defender and got sent off in this match, after receiving his second yellow card in the second half. He has a slim to muscular build and is ~180cm tall. The Ecuadorian has average acceleration and did not look quick on the turn. He had good strength in ground duels, but was not that intelligent as he used his hands to push over his opponent, often giving away a foul. His technique was quite questionable, too. Most of Cordova’s long passes were inaccurate and he did not look good on the ball. His short passing was quite consistent, but in this aspect, he also made some mistakes, even though he did have some good passes into midfield. As LDU Quito liked to build out from the back, Cordova saw a lot of the ball. He did not seem overly confident in this role. Defensively, he liked to slide tackle his opponent and he had bad awareness of his surroundings, sleeping at the 0-1 and not covering the run. In the second half, Cordova got a second yellow card after trying to block Peñarol’s shot. Cordova was always in possession on his own half, often in the defensive third. Most of his defensive duels were on his own half too, mostly halfway his own half.
Rating – 5
Next to that he did not feel comfortable operating as a ball-playing central defender, he did not show much potential in this match. His technical ability is below average and he is not a great defender. His athletic attributes do not look promising, too. I don’t think he will make it at the highest level in Ecuador.
Stalin Valencia
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 10/10/2003
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Left
Stalin Valencia played as a left central defender and did not play as well as he did in the last match, but he still showed good potential. Valencia stands at ~183cm (180cm according to World Football, but he looked slightly taller) with a muscular build. Despite having a muscular build, Valencia looked quite agile and capable of changing directions when sprinting. This did not get tested often in this match. The Ecuadorian showed good pace over longer distances but was not that quick on the first meters. He was also not slow though. Stalin Valencia often attempted to play a long pass to the wings, but those were very inconsistent. He has a decent technique, but often put too much power on his crosspasses. Valencia’s short passing was quite good and consistent, but sometimes he tried to overcomplicate his passes. The Ecuadorian once again looked strong in the ground duels and has a good leap in aerial duels, winning all of them. LDU Quito build out from the back, which means that Valencia saw a lot of the ball. There was one moment in which he got put under pressure where he struggled to keep the ball close to him, but he managed to win that duel and stay in possession. His footwork was not great that moment. Valencia showed good slide tackling in the late stages of the game and only once failed to cut the passing lane when stepping up. Generally, Valencia seems like a defender who likes to stay in the defensive line. He was one of the only LDU Quito players who stayed composed late in the game when all players were really fired-up. This was very positive, as he showed good concentration and discipline for the entire 98 minutes.
Rating – 2
I think he looks really promising in the physical and athletic areas, while also showing some potential in the technical aspect. He showed good discipline and concentration and as he only turned 18 a few months ago, I think he has a great future ahead of him.
Yeltzin Erique
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 27/03/2003
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito
- Position: Left-Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Yeltzin Erique played as LDU Quito’s left-back and once again showed some promising signs. Standing at ~172cm with a small build, Erique is not the strongest in the defensive duels, but he is capable of using his good anticipation in defence to win back possession. He also won a few aerial duels thanks to his good leap. Erique has good stamina and kept sprinting from box to box for 90 minutes. He has decent acceleration and good bursts of speed when taking on an opponent, except for one moment in which he carried the ball inside but lost the ball. Erique has a good first touch when dealing with aerial passes and only had one bad touch in this game. The defender liked to make overlapping runs and play over the top through passes down the touchline. He made some good runs. It seemed like he did not adapt to the pitch that well, as he did not anticipate that the ball would not bounce which nearly led to a big chance for Peñarol. In the build up, Erique mostly stayed near the halfway line and only progressed higher up the pitch when left-winger Mina. He did not get involved in the build-up that much. Most of his possession was on the opposition’s half. His good bursts of speed helped him to get away from his marker in the 1v1 duels on the wing and his crossing was quite good too, showing good crossing technique and consistency.
Rating – 2
For someone of his height, I think he does well in the ground and aerial duels. He has a good technique and has the potential to deliver a lot of assists for LDU Quito in the future. He should work on his speed and has a nice future ahead of him if he can become slightly quicker.
Oscar Zambrano
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 20/04/2004
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito
- Position: Central Midfielder
- Preferred foot: Right
Oscar Zambrano played as one of the two holding midfielders in the match against Peñarol. Standing at ~176cm with a slim build, Zambrano had good changes of direction, decent agility and good bursts of speed in the first phase of the build-up. However, he was not strong in the defensive duels and lost a few important ground duels in the final third of LDU Quito. Zambrano has a good crosspassing technique, but was very inconsistent in this match. He sometimes put way too much power on the ball. Most of his crosspasses were played to the right wing. The Ecuadorian was composed under pressure, but sometimes lost the ball near his own half as he tried to take on his opponent and simply got pushed off the ball. He definitely needs to improve on his intensity, as he should use his good bursts of speed in the first phase of the build up more often. Sometimes he was walking too much. He had good one-touch play in the smaller spaces. Defensively, he overcommitted in 1ve duels a lot and his positioning was not great. Zambrano often had bad communication with his teammates and looked like a bad defender in general. The Ecuadorian had a lot of involvement in the build-up and mostly positioned himself near the halfway line. He had a few defensive duels in the final third of LDU Quito and as mentioned before, he lost quite a few of them.
Rating – 4
Oscar Zambrano showed potential in the technical and athletic aspect, but has a bad physique and looked like a really bad defender. He should increase his intensity and work on his strength without losing his acceleration and changes of direction. Zambrano also needs to become more consistent in his passing.
Samuel Angulo
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 22/01/2004
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito
- Position: Attacking Midfielder
- Preferred foot: Left
Samuel Angulo played as an attacking midfielder in the match against Peñarol. The youngster had a really quiet match and was not involved much in the match. Angulo is ~175cm tall and has a slim build. He has good acceleration on the ball and seemed to have decent agility. On the ball, Angulo proved to have a good passing technique and good close control when dribbling, but he had a bad first touch under pressure when dropping deep. He only occasionally dropped deep to get into possession, but did not do this often and generally did not make a lot of touches in this match. In the rare moments that he got on the ball he showed good composure on the ball, next to making some good runs out wide when Mina took up a central position. Most of his actions were made on the opposition’s half near the halfway line and he did not do enough in my opinion to see more of the ball.
Rating – 4
Samuel Angulo was not active enough in possession and did not seem like a very interesting player to watch, as he failed to get involved much in his last game too, despite scoring a goal.
Denil Castillo
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 24/03/2004
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito
- Position: Central Midfielder
- Preferred foot: Right
Denil Castillo played as a central midfielder in the match against Peñarol. He is ~179cm according to World Football, but he looked more like he was ~193cm. Castillo has a slim build and had very long legs. The Ecuadorian, despite having long legs, seems to have relatively good changes of direction and had good agility. Castillo was capable of doing quick stepovers and used a la croqueta to get past an opponent. Only rarely he had bad ball coordination when dribbling. He deals with knee-height passes quite well. Castillo had a good leap in aerial duels and won a lot of ground duels thanks to his long legs. On the ball, Castillo had a decent short and long passing technique. However, he occasionally had sloppy passing on his own half. He even gave away a big chance by playing a very bad pass. His crosspassing was quite inaccurate at times. Denil Castillo used his physical and athletic ability to protect the ball in situations where he got put under pressure, but he sometimes lost possession in these situations. Castillo played a few good, strong passes into midfield and progressed the ball quite well. In possession, he mostly operated on his own half in the first half, but in the second half he operated more and more on the opposition’s half. He scanned well before receiving the ball in the first phase of the build up and is very composed on the ball. Most of his defensive duels were near the halfway line. In the late stages of the game, he was often found in the final third trying to make an impact on the game.
Rating – 2
I think he shows great potential in the physical and athletic areas and he combined this well with his technical ability. It seems like he needs to improve on his movement in the first phase of the build-up and consistency on the ball. He could definitely develop these aspects in the near future and I think he has potential to reach the first team.
Oscar Romario Sosa
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 01/05/2003
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito, Atlético Kin (L), Deportivo Meridiano (L)
- Position: Right-Winger
- Preferred foot: Right
Oscar Sosa plays as a right-winger for LDU Quito in this match. He stands at ~167cm with a quite muscular build. He had good agility, but his changes of direction when sprinting was less quick. Sosa seemed quick on the first few meters but was unable to maintain his speed. The Ecuadorian did not look strong in the duels but protected the ball well. He also lost aerial duels. In the technical aspect, he had a good first touch when receiving a crosspass. His crossing technique was decent. Sosa’s short passing technique was adequate. In terms of his playing style, he had good composure in the final third, assessing his options well and making the right decision. Oscar Sosa had a good positional sense and had good cooperation with Daniel de la Cruz. He liked to take on his opponent and had a lot of success. This was also due to his opponent always overcommitting in the 1v1 duels on the wing. He missed a penalty too.
Rating – 4
I think LDU’s captain played a good match, but I don’t think he showed that much potential. Against a better opponent, he will struggle in the offensive duels.
Alexander Caicedo
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 25/04/2004
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: Aucas, LDU Quito
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Left
Alexander Caicedo played as a striker in the match against Peñarol. He stands at ~188cm and has a slim build. Caicedo seemed to struggle to change directions when sprinting and failed to keep his balance well. He was not that quick on the first meters, which restricted him from making good runs into the box. Caicedo has a bad passing technique and liked to drop deep in the first phase of the build up. However, he lost the ball quite often. The Ecuadorian liked to make runs in behind but was not aggressive enough in the final third. Alexander Caicedo got subbed off after 45 minutes.
Rating – 5
Alexander Caicedo did not show any sort of potential in this game and I don’t think I will keep an eye out for him in the future.
Madison Ariel Mina
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 22/04/2003
- Club: LDU Quito
- Career: LDU Quito, Atletico Kin (L)
- Position: Left Winger
- Preferred foot: Right
Madison Mina played as a left-winger in this match and failed to make an impression. He got subbed off after 45 minutes. Mina stands at ~166cm with a stocky build. Madison Mina has decent acceleration and pace but did not seem like he could change directions quickly as he looked heavy-footed when trying to slow down. The Ecuadorian did not look strong in the duels. Madison Mina has average control over the ball when dribbling and showed bad ball coordination. His crossing technique with his left foot was bad, but he had better crosses with his right foot. Madison Mina liked to make runs in behind, but failed to have a significant impact in this game. Mina got subbed off after 45 minutes.
Rating – 5
Madison Mina had an uninspring game and did not show much potential in this game.