William Cabrera is a 17-year-old American-born left winger for North Carolina FC Academy and El Salvador U20. He appeared in all 5 matches of CONCACAF U20 Qualifying, starting once against Grenada, providing a goal and an assist.
Cabrera is short (~5’6”) with a lean frame. His low center of gravity and smooth agility give him strong balance. Though he is quick over short distances with a somewhat explosive first step, his acceleration and pace over distance are not good enough to consistently separate on carries or in behind. He is press-resistant enough, but will need to get stronger to deal with more physical defenders. Cabrera also must work on his endurance.
Cabrera is a shifty, highly technical dribbler. He frequently takes on defenders 1v1, usually cutting inside using tight control and sharp changes of direction to manipulate his marker. He will occasionally use stepovers or a turn of pace move to the outside, but his primary plan of action is cutting inside. He has excellent scanning upon reception that helps him in both creativity and risk evaluation, doubling back to retain with a ground back pass when needed or playing it further inside at short range, then continuing his run. Cabrera almost exclusively uses his stronger right foot. He can also create into the box with these passes further inside. In addition, he creates with cutbacks and driven crosses. His timing on them is solid, though he needs to improve his accuracy. Cabrera is not just very comfortable as a dribbler and taking on opponents; he thrives in link-up play, too. He is strong on the half turn, either taking it in stride into careful progressive carries or retaining with one-touch play. His off-ball movement is tactically intelligent to set this up, consistently flashing down the left half space to receive or open up space in behind for an overlapping teammate to receive into. Cabrera is flexible to receive both out wide and inside, but the type of athlete and style of attacker he is will likely limit him to a pocket player/inside forward role. In terms of finishing, he has inconsistent composure, taking an extra touch under pressure at times. He still puts shots on target with his dominant right foot after creating for himself by cutting into the box from wide past multiple opponents or crashing the box at the end of counters. If Cabrera can refine his end product and decision-making in the box, he could add a new dimension to his game, as his attacking positioning is close to the level of his off-ball movement, which makes him strong in link-up.
Cabrera is a controlled presser who focuses on cutting out passing lanes, not getting too tight on his closeouts and staying patient, which allows him to make some interceptions. He tracks back a bit down his flank defensively, but is not that notable in his own half out of possession, except for the occasional foul while chasing. Cabrera is not aggressive in the press and lacks strength in duels. He did not engage in aerially, likely because of his height.
Cabrera is an inside forward whose biggest strengths are his tight, technical dribbling and tactically intelligent off-ball movement. Though he has athletic limitations, his strengths and final third contribution make for a promising creative profile. With North Carolina FC not fielding a USL Championship squad, it will be interesting to see if an MLS Next Pro club, like Carolina Core or Crown Legacy FC, will give him a deserved shot at professional minutes.
Target Scouting 