Here at SAFA we've been busily analysing the South American U17 Championships and we'll be bringing you further analysis and conclusions over the coming days as the tournament draws to a close. But ahead of the final three games we thought we'd bring you a lowdown on some of the tournament's top marksmen:
These are just some of the incredible talents emerging from the exciting continent of South America at present and after whittling our initial search down to fifteen, we used our goalscoring metrics to pick out our top five goalscorers from the tournament so far:
Brazil's Elias has been on red-hot form in the tournament so far. The Fluminese striker is almost averaging a goal a game and according to reports has been attracting interest from, amongst others, Barcelona. Brazil will be hoping the 5-goal number 9 can cement his place as top scorer in the tournament by adding to his tally tomorrow when they take on Argentina.
Villalba's contribution has been significant to Paraguay's performances but his 4 goals haven't been enough to secure Los Guaraníes more than one point so far in the final round. Despite limited game time, the Libertad winger has contributed a third of his team's goals with a goal every 81 minutes. An impressive return he will be hoping to add to when his side face Chile tomorrow.
Venezuela's talisman Martínez has earnt many admirers over his 8 games in the tournament, contributing 4 goals and 3 assists to his side's tally of 11. His ability to find pockets of space, drive at defenders and produce flashes of brilliance have been crucial in the final phase of the tournament especially in La Tricolor's crucial victories against Paraguay and Chile. He will need to be in talismanic form when Venezuela take on hosts Ecuador on Sunday.
Speaking of the hosts, Ecuador's Bermúdez has showed his goalscoring, fox-in-the-box style credentials so far and whilst he hasn't solo-handedly put La Tri in the driver's seat at the top of the league, he has been a crucial cog in the Ecuadorian machine. With Arroyo and Paez hugely influential on either wing, with 8 assists between them, Liga's Bermúdez has had some excellent service throughout the tournament, scoring 4 crucial goals for his country.
El Diablito needs no introduction. Recently dubbed 'the next Messi', Echeverri has displayed his quality in this tournament contributing 4 goals and 3 assists to La Albiceleste's campaign. A real flair player, he is one of several talented youngsters who have captured the imagination in this exciting tournament. The River Plate number 10, recently linked to Manchester City and Real Madrid will need to be on top form when his side face Brazil tomorrow.
Complete Analysis:
Figure 1: Special mentions to Ecuador's Obando and Brazil's Vitor who have both contributed 3 important goals in 7 to their respective team's cause.
Figure 2: Venezuela captain Martínez clearly leading the way here. Argentina's Roberto and López have made notable contributions to the Argentina cause and along with Echeverri will be hoping to topple free scoring Brazil tomorrow
Figure 3: We see here just how impressive Villalba's goalscoring return is compared to other players in the tournament. Special mention too to Ecuador's Jeremy de Jesus who has contributed 3 goals and 1 assist in only 287 minutes of football. Also Brazil's De Mata has managed a goal every 262 minutes from centre back, pretty impressive stuff.
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