César Miño is a short-statured 15-year-old forward who stood out for Paraguay in the CONMEBOL U17 Championship against much older and more physically mature competition. The Guaraní attacker fired in three goals in nine appearances in the competition to help his national team to a fifth-place finish.
Miño’s main function as an attacker for Paraguay was exploiting defenses in transition with his excellent pace and shiftiness that made him hard to mark. He combines that pace in transition with intelligent movements to split defenders on his runs before receiving in stride. After receiving, his lack of maturity on ball is evident, as he needs to add more press resistance to stay on ball in 1v1s without getting overpowered. Despite this, his skill and agility allow him to slip by defenders on ball and somewhat makes up for those drawbacks. Additionally, Miño prefers to stay central when attacking, although he is not opposed to receiving on the wing and utilizes his skill and flair to cut inside at times.
After going to work off ball to receive in stride and then use skill to beat his marker, comes Miño’s finishing. His finishing ability with his dominant left foot is well above his age level. He combines great technique to add curve and power when scoring goals or narrowly missing for placement. Miño’s variety in shooting styles, including power, for placement, or combining both makes his left foot so dangerous in the box and even on the outside when striking from distance. Although a great finisher, Miño must continue to develop his creativity, especially as such a small player. More dimensions will need to be added to his offensive prowess as he develops.
He is not just an impressive finisher with immense pace, Miño adds some chops on the press, too. He actively tries to nick the ball away early in the buildup, sometimes utilizing his pace to frustrate opponents. Paraguay’s rising starlet even looked to cut out passing lanes and make interceptions at times.
Tactically, Miño looks to be a second striker who can play off a more creative target man, and with some growth, become a number 10. The youngster needs a running mate up top for the time being if he hopes to thrive in senior football at such an early stage in his development. Guaraní seem to believe in him, as he has been involved in their senior team since last July.
The potential for Miño is up to him, the sky is the limit. He is an elite finisher and combines that with top athletic traits, Europe is surely looking at him already. He may not get the Kendry Paez treatment, but it will be close. Miño is certainly one to watch and is a huge part of Paraguay’s future.
Target Scouting 