Guatemala under 20 lost the opening match of the CONCACAF Championships 2022 1-5 against El Salvador under 20. Guatemala set up in a 5-3-2 in the first half, but changed to a four at the back in the second half, trying to put more pressure on El Salvador. El Salvador had a possession-based style and dominated Guatemala throughout the entire game, not giving them much time on the ball and often recovering possession high up the pitch. El Salvador created chances very easily in this match and never looked out of control in this match. A great goal by Arquímides Ordóñez brought back some sort of belief for Guatemala at the start of the second half, but thanks to Osorio (an assist and goal) that belief went away pretty quickly.
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
Arquímides Ordóñez
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Guatemalan/American
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 05/08/2003
- Current club: FC Cincinnati
- Career: CLB Academy (Y), FC Cincinnati
- Position: Striker
- Secondary Position: Left Wing, Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Arquímides Ordóñez played as one of the two strikers for Guatemala under 20 against El Salvador under 20. He formed a partnership with Jefry Bantes and he basically put on a one-man show for Guatemala. The young striker, already being a part of Cincinnati’s first team, often had to receive the ball near his own halfway line and he liked to carry the ball forward aggressively. Arquímides Ordóñez did this really well and did not lose the ball that often, looking impressive on the ball and hard to defend. The Guatemalan attacker showed a good mix of physical ability and athleticism. He was capable of protecting the ball well under pressure, before turning away from his marker and beating him in an attacking 1v1 duel.
The young attacker was quite clearly the player with the most quality in this match and I am pretty sure that he knew this himself. He often tried to take on multiple opponents and was very good at doing so, but missed a good end product because of a few reasons. Arquímides Ordóñez sometimes tried to get past too many opponents and should have either pulled the trigger or passed it to a teammate in certain situations. His shooting technique was quite good, but sometimes he was not in the right position to attempt a shot. It happened sometimes that he got past a few opponents on the wing, but despite having a good crossing technique and putting in some good crosses, he did not look up and failed to detect that no one from his team was in the box (or close to where he played the cross to).
Arquímides Ordóñez had two situations in which he showed good end product, which would be sufficient if he’d do that every game. In one situation, he dribbled through El Salvador’s entire defence before calmly shooting the ball into the back of the net. In another situation, he spotted a teammate in space and played a perfect through pass to put his teammate in a 1v1 situation with the goalkeeper.
Rating – A2
Generally, Arquímides Ordóñez had a very good performance but his selfishness was a big weakness of him in this match, despite succeeding on a few occasions. However, I can only assume that he usually is not that selfish and I want to focus on his potential ability. I thought, as mentioned in the report, he had a great mix between physical ability, athleticism and technical ability and I think this could bring him very far in his career.
I want to watch him in a more competitive match (at Cincinnati) to see how he plays in a different environment and team, because I think that this is necessary in order to determine his potential and current ability. However, I am happy with what I saw and will ignore his selfishness for now.
Jefry Bantes
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Guatemalan
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 08/03/2004
- Current club: CSD Municipal
- Career: CSD Municipal
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Jefry Bantes played as a striker in the match against El Salvador under 20 and formed a duo with Arquímides Ordóñez up top. The Guatemalan striker had a very energetic start to the game, as he was constantly pressing El Salvador’s backline and contributing to Guatemala’s defence. His eagerness to recover possession and support Guatemala’s defence often led to him fouling his opponent as he made some late challenges. It became clear quite quickly that, as a striker, Bantes is not that good at defending. Bantes is very aggressive in the duels and his commitment to his defensive tasks also, obviously, had its pros. He sometimes was capable of recovering possession near the halfway line, but in this match his interceptions were not that promising for Guatemala as they deployed a low-block for the most part in this game.
Standing at 1,75 meters with a normal build, Bantes did really well to hold off opponents and he protected the ball well. CSD Muncipal’s striker showed good close control under pressure when he received with his opponent aggressively closing him down. He maintained possession in these situations and looked good linking up play with his teammates. Bantes proved that he is good at linking up play for the 2-1, as he played a first-time pass to Arquímides Ordóñez with his back towards the goal, who went on to score the 2-1. Jefry Bantes was also pretty good at drawing fouls and liked to overexaggerate his pain, going down as if he had broken his ankle. In the second half, his energy levels seemingly dropped to a very low point, but the score could also have had its impact on his energy levels or motivation to put pressure on El Salvador’s backline.
In aerial duels, Jefry Bantes seemed to do relatively okay despite not being as tall as his opponents. His leap was quite good and he also timed his leap pretty well.
Rating – A2
I would like to see Jefry Bantes in a game where Guatemala (or CSD Muncipal) dominate possession, because I am interested to see more of Bantes while being in possession. But for now, I can’t really determine his potential.