Of Ghanaian origin, Sidney Powell Osei was born in Italy, raised in Denmark, and entered Portugal through the doors of CS Marítimo. In the Nordic country, the Italian forward spent time at Vinding SF and spent the rest of his formative years at Velje BK. He arrived in Madeira to play for the Portuguese club’s U23s and moved last summer to CA Pêro Pinheiro, the team that climbed from the Campeonato de Portugal to Liga 3. He has no international caps, but the latest reports point to a trip to Denmark’s youth teams.
Sidney Osei has a remarkable physical stature. His speed of movement is outstanding, as is his ability to accelerate – he can easily outrun his opponents and gain an advantage through his running, especially with the infamous “toco y me voy”. His running speed is reasonable, and he also uses his body to protect himself from opponents while he has the ball. He doesn’t lose the ball and, at his speed, he does what he wants – this is most noticeable when he offers support up front. He is a morphologically mesomorphic player with a tall stature.
In defence, Sidney, due to his team’s defensive manoeuvres, tends to close off spaces in the central corridor, rather than pressurising the opposition’s defenders unbridled. Osei makes L-shaped movements to force defenders to look for the long pass, always to close off the centre. He also tries to prevent the centre-backs from linking up with the opposition’s defensive midfielder. However, given that he is a player who is committed to what is asked of him and has a high level of physical fitness, I believe that if he pressed the opposing team high up, he would also be successful, as he is a player who has mastered offensive principles such as containment and defensive cover.
In attack, Sidney Osei always tries to be involved in the game. To do this, he helps the team to be connected through the frontal support he offers and by attacking the space ahead – the infamous “toco y me voy”, as I’ve already mentioned. In other words, he links CA Pêro Pinheiro’s attack to the other sectors. In front of goal, his first touch – which could still be improved – stands out, as does his ability to protect the ball and his subsequent acceleration towards the opponent’s goal. There are times when he returns the ball with just one touch. There are others when he keeps the ball, waits for the team to arrive, and returns it. There are other moments when he tries to get around the opponent who is pressing him from behind and ends up looking for the finish – this last action happens more when he provides frontal support in the left half-space, as he is left-footed and makes diagonals from outside to inside towards the opponent’s goal. Also noteworthy is the aggressive way he moves inside the area and the way he attacks spaces within it – he comes from behind at high speed, timing his attacks on the ball and surprising defenders who are trying to defend the goal.
Sidney Powell Osei’s potential tends to catapult him into the professional leagues. Thinking about a hypothetical scenario in Portugal, it would be beneficial for the young striker to initially make the move to a Liga Portugal SABSEG team with a greater ability to retain possession and more time in the opponent’s attacking midfield, to see how the Italian performs in that scenario – at the moment, he’s in a scenario with a lot of transitions. If he eventually proliferates in terms of goals and assists during his time in the Portuguese second tier, we may end up seeing him in the Liga Portugal Betclic. This season in Liga 3, Sidney has already scored five goals and set up one in twelve games. He’s been one of CA Pêro Pinheiro’s best players and he may leap – his name has already been linked with the main Portuguese clubs.
Target Scouting 