Ethnikos Achnas have been one of the ever-present teams in the Cypriot top flight. They were in the league from the 2008/09 season, consistently finishing in mid-table spots but occasionally flirting with relegation. In the 2022/23 campaign, they tested the waters a little too much and ended up dropping to the second tier after finishing last in the league phase and second from bottom in the relegation playoffs.

Their time in the Second Division was limited to just one season as they rose back up after finishing third, but with fear that they could drop again. However, Ethnikos have surprised many by comfortably finishing clear of the relegation spots, ending the regular season in 10th with 26 points, 14 clear of bottom side Doxa. They have been even more impressive in the relegation playoffs, winning seven and drawing three of their 13 matches so far, increasing optimism for next season.

The driving force for their improved form in the playoffs has been Enzo Cabrera, on loan from Newell’s Old Boys. Cabrera has scored eight times in these 12 matches after netting as many times in 23 games during the regular season, bringing his tally up to 17 goals in 36 league matches. He has also established an excellent striking partnership with 27-year-old Marios Ilia, who has struck 19 times in 37 matches. The duo have thus contributed to 55.22% of Ethnikos’ league goals this season.

This scout report will take a look at Cabrera’s attacking talent by performing some tactical analysis on his positioning and goalscoring, while also taking a look at his fit within tactics deployed by Ethnikos, who are currently under their third manager of the season in Borce Gjurev.

(Note: Stats from before Ethnikos’ 2-0 win over AEL on May 7.)

Player Profile

At 24, Cabrera is still in the very early stages of his career. The Argentine began his journey with his parent club, Newell’s, featuring for their U20s and IIs from 2017 to 2020. He broke into the first team in between, playing 13 times in 2018, but only featured in 18 more games between then and 2021, when he was loaned out to Intercity in Spain.

Cabrera played 31 league matches for the Spanish outfit, scoring four goals before returning to Newell’s at the end of the 2021/22 season. He was loaned out again, this time to Birkirkara in Malta, where football got its first glimpse at his immense talent. The forward scored 17 goals and assisted five more in 30 matches across competitions, including four goals in five Maltese FA Trophy matches to help the team win the tournament for the first time since 2015.

Upon returning to Newell’s, he was loaned out to Ethnikos Achnas for the ongoing campaign and has continued his hot streak there as well.

A centre-forward by trade, Cabrera undoubtedly spends a lot of his time in and around the box. However, this season, he has also showcased the ability to drop deeper to collect the ball in the half-spaces and help the team progress the ball from the left flank, as his heatmap below suggests.

Dribbling Ability

Before we get to Cabrera’s incredible goalscoring streak, it’s important to note that there’s a lot more to his game that makes him an incredibly exciting prospect.

For starters, he is a quality dribbler of the ball. Prior to his most recent game, he averaged 2.21 dribbles per 90 with a solid success rate of 45.9%. While his fouls won tally could be higher than the current 1.79 figure, analysis of his in-game dribbling shows that this should increase with time.

The chart below suggests that Cabrera’s ball-carrying is one of his best traits, and his ability to penetrate the penalty area from the flanks and central areas alike has been invaluable to Ethnikos this season.

When both his ball-carrying and dribbling come together, like they do in this clip below from Ethinkos’ 4-1 win over Karmiotissa, Cabrera is both a joy to watch and extremely dangerous for the opposition. His excellent close control helps him weave past three defenders, and he then beats two more to get to the by-line inside the area to deliver a cutback beyond the onrushing goalkeeper that dangerously runs across an empty goal before being cleared.

Cabrera does something similar in the clip below from their match against Nea Salamis, this time from his own half. He initially gets away from one defender by changing direction, and when a second engages, he nutmegs him and collects the ball on the other side with acres of open space to run into, single-handedly helping Ethnikos break forward. The first defender tries to tackle him from behind again, but he still gets away.

With his dribbling ability and close control now established, let’s get to Cabrera’s bread and butter: his goalscoring!

Goalscoring

Cabrera, as mentioned earlier, has enjoyed the best goalscoring season of his young career in 2023/24. His 17 strikes have come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 13.38, indicating that he isn’t massively overperforming expectations. More interestingly, he has averaged 2.72 shots per 90, single-handedly contributing to about 21.95% of Ethnikos’ shots per 90, and has gotten 45.1% of those on target.

As his shot map below shows, Cabrera has largely found himself in, around, and ahead of the penalty spot, with 4.33 touches per game in the penalty box, understandably maximising his chances of scoring. Additionally, 16 of his 89 shot attempts have been from outside the box, of which six have been on target, with three even ending in goals.

Cabrera has a clear preference for shooting with his stronger foot, with 11 of his 17 strikes coming from his right boot. However, he has also scored with five headers and once with his weaker left foot. The Argentine has also shown the ability to score from different situations, displaying excellent adaptability.

Ethnikos have often depended on long balls forward, with 14.45% of their total passes being long passes, and have been relatively successful (55.1% completion rate). In that regard, it helps that Cabrera can control and score from passes from the defence, as in the case below from his side’s biggest win of the season – 2-1 over league leaders APOEL Nicosia.

The left-back plays a ball over the top here, and despite his 5’9″, 143lb frame, Cabrera outmuscles the centre-back to get on the end of it and into a 1v1 situation. The goalkeeper comes rushing out, and the forward simply dinks it over him, and the ball bounces into the roof of the net ahead of a desperate attempt to clear from a defender.

Ethnikos are also a decent crossing side and average 13.87 crosses per game with a decent accuracy of 37.1%. In the clip below, Cabrera starts the move by dropping deep and playing a pass out wide before making his way into the box. He is initially positioned behind the centre-backs and away from their line of sight in a crowded box. This makes it easy for him to peel away to the far post just as Ilia gets ready to cross, showcasing the connection the duo have developed, and heads it home past the goalkeeper who is slow to get down and block it.

As explained earlier, Cabrera boasts excellent close control and his ability to take delicate touches with both feet allow him to fool defenders, like he does in the clip below. After initially racing through, he decelerates, chops the ball twice to confuse the defender and give himself space before firing past the goalkeeper.

Lastly, while he doesn’t score many with his weak foot, Cabrera is still capable of providing a left-footed finish when needed, as he does below against Apollon. Ethnikos are notably also a solid team in offensive transitions, with 47.1% of their 1.74 counterattacks per game ending in a shot.

In this sequence, Cabrera initially makes him available by staying high up the pitch and gets into an open position on the right. However, the pass to him is behind him, and he is forced to change direction to get it back. He gets a little bit of luck as the recovering defender slips, giving him just a second more to curl it home from the edge of the box with his left foot before the other defenders arrive on the scene.

Similarly, the sequence below is an excellent indicator of his footballing IQ. When Ilia gets the ball out wide, Cabrera initially plans to run off the back of a defender. However, quickly realising what Ilia wants to do, he rushes into the gap between two defenders and goes on to collect the perfect through-ball to set up a 1v1 opportunity. A shot fake then sends the goalkeeper to the ground, and he delicately lobs the ball over him to score.

Weaknesses and Areas to Work On

For all his goalscoring exploits, it has to be remembered that Cabrera is still an extremely young player. Thus, it’s not too surprising that he has made a few poor choices in the final third, such as in the sequence below, where he times his run brilliantly but refuses to pass to Ilia despite the latter being in a better position and calling for the ball. Ilia responds by throwing his hands up in anger after the keeper saves Cabrera’s shot.

Occasional moments like this are part of the reason why he has only four assists this season, with his expected assists (xA) per game at a mere 0.07. The other main factor in this regard is his passing as Cabrera attempts only 14.74 passes a game with an okayish completion rate of 73.3%, However, those numbers worsen with respect to forward passes (2.39 per game at 47.5% accuracy) as well as passes into the final third (1.4 at 57.4%) and penalty area (0.84 at 46.4%).

Given the kind of situations he often finds himself in, Cabrera needs to improve his passing in attacking areas and be more bold with his attempts. Ethnikos and potentially Newell’s Old Boys are both likely to be happier if he attempts a higher volume of forward passes, be it in the final third or attacking area, rather than such a low number at his current completion rate.

One reason for the low volume is his mould as an archetypal centre-forward in many regards. However, goalscorers who can also create and help initiate passing moves on a regular basis will undoubtedly demand more attention in the transfer market, and this is an area Cabrera must work on.

Conclusion

Enzo Cabrera is the next promising talent to come out of South America and a goalscoring young forward like few in the world right now. His spell at Ethnikos after a superb stint in Malta has been outstanding, particularly in the relegation playoffs. Cabrera still needs to make a few tweaks to his game, but in his current form, he is already shaping up to be a player who could potentially make waves in Europe.