Riquelme Angulo is a 15-year-old striker who plays for Independiente del Valle. Angulo is Tin Angulo’s younger brother. Riquelme Angulo mainly played for Independiente del Valle U-15 but also scored 4 in 5 for Independiente del Valle U-17. He has already scored over 80 goals in two full seasons for Independiente del Valle’s youth academy. It is unknown (to me) why he did not play much in 2022. Angulo won the league title with Independiente del Valle U-15.
Standing at around 1.95m with a slim build, Riquelme Angulo is extremely tall for his age. The young Ecuadorian is very athletic and mobile, especially for his frame. He has a good burst of speed, whilst also displaying very good speed over long distances. He turns relatively quickly and displays decent agility. Angulo had inconsistent footwork early in 2023 but improved a lot this year. He could improve his physical strength and needs to use his body more efficiently in the duels. Angulo is very dominant in aerial duels due to his height and timing.
He has a decent technical profile, too. Riquelme Angulo can occasionally struggle to remain in possession whilst leaning backwards into his opponent. He generally has a decent first touch under pressure. Angulo’s wall passes are a bit inconsistent but he likes to engage in Independiente del Valle’s possession play. The striker displays decent close control in small spaces. He can sometimes overestimate his pace while dribbling, running the ball out of play but creating separation easily. Angulo has decent vision, often knowing where his teammates are and finding them with nice (often one-touch) passes. He is very one-footed though, almost only using his right foot and refusing to use his left foot often. Angulo gets into scoring position easily, especially in the box where he has a physical advantage against his opponents. His finishing is quite inconsistent, sometimes not striking the ball optimally or being a bit uncontrolled in 1v1s.
The striker finds space in the box well and has improved his runs a lot this year. While he was often found in an offside position in the Next Generation Trophy, he made a lot more effective runs in the league title finals against Orense and Barcelona SC. Angulo prefers to make runs between the left-back and left central defender of the opponent. Defensively, he is a very active presser and works incredibly hard to track back. However, sometimes he can track back all the way to central defence which is not optimal. It shows his mentality though.
My expectation for 2024 is that Riquelme Angulo will be a starter for Independiente del Valle U-17. However, with his physical profile, I think he will become a regular starter for Independiente del Valle U-19 sooner rather than later. He has an extremely interesting profile and has the potential to play for good clubs in the big European competitions if he stays on the right track.
Target Scouting 