SD Quito – Match Report vs. CD Miguel Iturralde (24/07/2022)

SD Quito played a home match against CD Miguel Iturralde on the fifth matchday in the Segunda Categoria de Pichincha 2022 (second stage). The hosts have a rich history, winning the Serie A five times (incl. 2008, 2009 and 2011). SD Quito dropped down to the second division in 2015 before dropping down to the third tier of Ecuadorian football in 2016 after having severe financial problems. There is not a lot of information on the internet (in English) about the entire situation.

The structure of the Segunda Categoria is pretty complicated to understand. Each team first needs to play in a regional league to qualify for the national play-offs. For each region, there is a different league structure on how to qualify for the national play-offs. SD Quito plays in the Pichincha region. In this region, all fifteen teams get divided in three groups. The top two teams of each group qualify for the next stage meaning that there is a group of 6. In this group of 6 teams, each team has to play 10 games. The top 5 of the group qualifies for the national play-offs. SD Quito ended in second place in this group, meaning that they progressed to the national play-offs. The national play-offs are a knock-out system starting with 64 teams. In the end, SD Quito progressed to the round of 16 where they got knocked out against Baldor Bermeo after penalties.

However, back to the match. SD Quito set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and had a very direct approach with a lot of long balls throughout the game. CD Miguel Iturralde were the better side and created more chances, also because they had a slightly less direct approach and tried to play their way through SD Quito’s defence. In the end, both sides had some chances but it was not enough to find a way past both goalkeepers who played a really good match.

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

Teddy Miranda

• Nationality: Ecuadorian
• Age: 20
• Date of birth: 06/03/2002
• Club: SD Quito
• Career: LDU Quito (Y), SD Quito (Y), Quiteños FC (Y), La Union (L), SD Quito, 3 de Julio (L), SD Quito
• Position: Right-Back
• Secondary position: Centre Midfield
• Preferred foot: Right

Teddy Miranda played as a right-back for Deportivo Quito in the match against CD Miguel Iturralde and had a very good game. The defender is around 1.85 meters tall and has a muscular build, seemingly spending a lot of time in the gym which I also found out on his Instagram. The Ecuadorian youngster is very strong in defensive duels, mainly because he uses his body well to disrupt the opponent and to throw him off-balance without giving away a free-kick. Miranda is a tenacious defender and shows good persistence, battling well in defensive duels and never giving up. He is positively aggressive in the dues and came out on top in almost every defensive duel in this game. Teddy Miranda has good bursts of speed and changes of directions, while also showing great stamina as he kept running up and down the wing with high-intensity runs for 90 minutes long. However, his speed over longer distances is not great and will definitely hinder the right-back in his career.

The defender likes to step out of the defensive line to get into the duels, which he is very effective at. He does well to cut passing lanes, showing decent athleticism to get to the ground quickly to block the pass. Teddy Miranda does well to stay narrow when CD Miguel Iturralde had settled possession on Deportivo Quito’s half. He only closed the gap out wide when the wide player received the ball. Miranda did well to maintain the right distance between him and the attacker and is very active on his feet. He could look at the ball a bit more though as he sometimes unnecessarily moved his feet when his opponent used feints to put Miranda on his wrong foot. Miranda received a yellow card after stopping a promising attack after the ball luckily landed at the feet of his opponent when Miranda blocked a pass. He had to stop him and get that yellow card.

During the times that Teddy Miranda received the ball near his own byline while being put under pressure, he showed that he possesses a lot of strength in his legs and body to hold off the opponent and eventually clear the ball. He did not panic in these situations and relied on his strength to hold off opponents. The Ecuadorian player did well to scan before receiving the ball in the first phase of possession, always taking a positive touch after he scanned and saw that no one was close. Miranda likes to carry the ball forward. He has decent dribbling technique, managing to keep the ball relatively close to him. Miranda was not an adventurous dribbler and played to his strengths, not overcomplicating his dribbles. He also did not have the skillset to get past opponents, but used his good changes of direction and bursts of speed to get past his opponents a few times.

He has a good short passing technique, looking pretty secure with his passing and playing the right passes. Teddy Miranda generally already moved high up the pitch when Deportivo Quito were in possession, showing that he is an offensive-minded right-back. However, in other situations he arrived late in the final third, making good runs into acres of space but not receiving the ball often. Teddy Miranda makes good overlapping runs and has a good crossing technique, while also being able to put in a decent cross while sprinting at full speed. His long passing technique is decent for this level, but his long passes had mixed results in this match.

Rating – A1

I think that Teddy Miranda proved in this match why he has been a starter for Deportivo Quito since 2021 (or even 2020). The Ecuadorian has already played over 50 games for the fallen Ecuadorian giants. He displayed very good defensive skills, while also being decent going forward. However, his lack of speed was really unfortunate because that will restrict him from playing for higher-level sides in the Serie A. I think that he fits well in a balanced playing style. He would be good enough to start for mid-table Serie B teams at this moment. I think he has the potential to play for lower-table Serie A sides in the future.

Marcos Aguirre

• Nationality: Ecuadorian
• Age: 20
• Date of birth: 02/01/2002
• Club: SD Quito
• Career: Independiente del Valle (Y), Barcelona (Y), SD Aucas (Y), San Camilo (L), Montry, Pelileo, SD Quito
• Position: Left-Wing
• Secondary position: Right-Wing
• Preferred foot: Right

Marcos Aguirre started out on the right wing but shifted to the left wing after about 35 minutes into the game. The attacker has a pretty slim build standing at 1.80 meters. The Ecuadorian does not quite have the physical ability to hold off opponents in shoulder-to-shoulder duels and should work on his strength. The attacker has good speed over short and long distances. He changes directions well while sprinting but sometimes seems to lose balance quite easily when he gets touched by an opponent. The attacker likes to make diagonal runs in behind, often starting out wide but making a run into central zones trying to get in behind. It was not very effective though as he rarely committed fully to his run and he also was not found often. Aguirre generally had a good technique, looking secure with his passes and also controlling the ball well while dribbling, but his shooting was below average.

In the final third, Aguirre showed some smart positioning at times, finding space well between the lines or in the right half-space. However, receiving the ball in this position, Aguirre sometimes was not aware that he was being put under pressure because he failed to scan, meaning that he was dispossessed pretty easily at times. The attacker did have a good touch under pressure when he saw his opponent coming and also turned the right way in these situations. He seemingly was comfortable playing with both feet, also using his weaker left foot to play through passes. He had a decent final ball but failed to have a real impact on the game. Marcos Aguirre, even though he did some quick feints and stepovers, consistently failed to get past his opponent(s). The defender read him quite well and used his body well to defend Aguirre. The attacker could have had more impact on the game if he was a little bit better in the attacking 1v1 duels.

Rating – A2

Marcos Aguirre showed glimpses of potential in this game. He does have the minerals to become a lot better in attacking 1v1’s and he generally has a good technique. Aguirre just needs to work on his strength and on his attacking 1v1s. Looking at his lack of goal contributions in the last years, he probably does not have strong finishing either. With that being said, I think that Aguirre has the potential to play for a mid-table Serie B side in the future if he works on his weaknesses. However, the chance is quite big that he will be a Segunda Categoria player for the rest of his career.

Marvin Cortez

• Nationality: Ecuadorian
• Age: 18
• Date of birth: 14/04/2004
• Club: SD Quito
• Career: Otavalo (Y), SD Quito
• Position: Central Midfield
• Preferred foot: Right

Marvin Cortez played as a left central midfielder for Deportivo Quito in the match against CD Miguel Iturralde. The midfielder is around 1.78 meters tall and has a slim build. Even though he has good speed over short distances, his pace over long distances is below average. His lack of pace over long distances was the direct reason for his second yellow card near the end of the game. He lost a race to the ball and needed to pull his opponent down to the ground to stop the dangerous attack, leading to his second yellow card. Cortez displayed good technical ability throughout the match. He has good receiving skills under pressure and has decent close control. His passing ability over short and medium-long distances was consistent and secure. Cortez generally dealt well with the bad pitch conditions.

However, Marvin Cortez was not involved much in this game considering the fact that Deportivo Quito opted for a direct approach, playing lots of long passes or building out from the back through the wings. This means that Cortez had to cover a lot of ground as he needed to support Deportivo Quito’s attackers as well as the defenders. Because of his lack of speed, and sometimes stamina, he was not able to run up and down the pitch for 90 minutes long. In defensive duels, Cortez has a physical disadvantage but still managed to battle well and win duels through persistence and good tackling ability. He drifted out wide a bit too often out of possession though, leaving gaps in central areas that were not exploited by the opponent because of a lack in quality.

Rating – A2

I think that Martin Cortez is not quite made for a box-to-box role in midfield. He should play as an attacking midfielder where he would get more involvement on the ball and have the ability to actually have an impact on the game. He lacks speed, but I would like to see more of him to see whether he has the potential to make it to the Serie A. There are rumours of a move to a different team, but it is not yet announced which team is involved.