Vizela and Chaves drew in the first matchday of their group in the Portuguese League Cup, ahead of a rainy night in the north of Portugal. Alvaro Pacheco’s side dominated the match after equalizing in the 35th minute through an outstanding acrobatic goal by Etim, only 2 minutes later after having conceded. The teams saw the scoreboard tied at the half-time mark, and the home side continued to push after the 45th minute. During the second half, the away side saw themselves getting one man down after a challenge on Etim, and ten minutes after, Raphael Guzzo put the home side ahead. In the last breath of the match, the away side managed to equalize after exploiting a messy defensive line left open by the two defenders on the left side for Vizela.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Friday Etim
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Nigerian
- Age: 20
- Date of Birth: 21/05/2002
- Current Club: FC Vizela
- Position: Striker
- Secondary Position: Left winger
- Preferred Foot: Right
Friday Etim played as a striker for FC Vizela in the first matchday of the Portuguese League Cup against GD Chaves. Standing at 1.86 meters with a muscular build, Etim has good sprint speed and acceleration. He is mobile, agile and displays good balance both with and without the ball. The Nigerian youngster has a good physical ability with good leap and ability to win aerial duels. He holds up play very well, especially when he is able to chest the ball down to proceed with play. Etim can hold up the play far from the opposition’s box after receiving a long ball, by maintaining his balance and battling opponents while picking out a pass. His decision-making and vision were quite good, with him mainly resorting to making passes to spread the ball out wide. Even when under pressure, he makes good use of his body to shield the ball from his opponents and makes the right decisions. However, he could improve how he approaches throw-ins, since most of the time he lost the ball in these kinds of duels.
Overall, the young striker showed decent on-the-ball abilities, but still has some room for improvement. His receiving skills seemed to be a bit sloppy at times and even though he often did not lose the ball this still cost him some valuable time. His ball control seemed to be good, but it was very rare to see him dribble, as he mainly looked to quickly link up with his teammates. Etim’s passing was good and throughout the match showed very good vision multiple times.
When Vizela had possession in the opposition’s half, he mainly remained in a central position on the field between the opposing centre-backs. The home team mainly resorted to him as a target forward, meaning that he rarely made movements behind Chaves’ defensive line or drifted away from his central position. His movement in the box was pretty good, as he most often got himself into the right space, but for most of the game was let down by his teammates since the ball almost never got to him. The 20-year-old looked composed in front of the goal despite seeing very few opportunities to do so. Etim scored an outstanding acrobatic goal, as he reacted quickly to a header from his teammate inside the box, proceeded to chest the ball and instantly finish it in the air even without facing the goal.
Etim was very active in applying pressure out of possession and always quickly closed down his opponents. This resulted in him recovering the ball for his team multiple times. Besides, on one occasion where his team was quickly applying pressure, he was quick to get to a loose ball and got through on goal, and was tackled by an opponent who was given a red card. Throughout the match, he showed a very combative personality, showing some positive aggressiveness.
Rating – A2
Friday Etim is only taking his first few steps in Vizela’s first team, with this being only his second game with the senior squad. He has been making quite the impression after having scored in both of those games. In this match, I was stunned by the amazing goal he scored, and he was awarded the Man of the match trophy. Etim has been making very good use of the opportunities he has been given, and I would not be surprised to see him as a regular presence in Vizela’s senior squad for the rest of the season. However, he still has some room for improvement, especially regarding his on-the-ball ability.
Target Scouting 