A talent with a crazy performance arrives at the RPL. “Orenburg” takes it under the “Zenith”?
Anatoly Romanov Aug 17, 2023 07:00 UTC Audio Version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Forward Cuero started for the Ecuadorian youth team.
RPL clubs continue to search and find talent in South America. “Orenburg” is not limited to the Argentine market, but also looks towards Ecuador. Independiente del Valle striker Justin Cuero became a newcomer to Jiri Yaroshik’s team. Orenburg leased a 19-year-old player for one season for €300,000 (according to Transfermarkt) with a termination obligation. As it became known at the “Championship”, 60% of the rights to Cuero will cost Orenburg residents 2 million euros.
This transfer has an interesting history. Before his transfer, Cuero said in an interview for TCTelevision that Zenit was buying his contract and that he would spend the season on loan in Orenburg. Apparently, the striker was motivated to leave for Russia with the promise of getting into the top club RPL. After that, the player’s agent, Manuel Sierra, assured that his client was “misunderstood” and that there were no negotiations with Zenit. Orenburg sports director Dmitry Andreev, in turn, humorously answered the question about Zenit and said that he plans to sell Leather to Chelsea together with an agent. Although it may not have been a joke at all.
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According to Cuero, the transfer was unexpected for him.
“Everything happened very quickly. I even went online to get more information about Russia. It will be quite difficult to adjust: a new cuisine, a completely different culture. However, the club has been preparing us for this for a long time. I hope I can give my best me there and help the team”, said the young Ecuadorian, whose words were published on Twitter by the journalist José Molestina.
Justin Cuero’s name still means nothing to Russian or European fans. At the adult level, the forward played only two games with his native Independiente del Valle (participant in the 2023 Copa Libertadores playoffs): this year he came on twice as a substitute, ran for a total of one time and did not play. take effective action. But in Orenburg they played ahead of the curve – they signed a talented player before he had time to prove himself as a professional. It was impossible not to pay attention to Cuero in the youth team of Ecuador. For the under-20 team, the guy scored like a machine!
In June 2022, Cuero scored three goals in three friendlies with his teammates from Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay. A successful debut helped him gain a foothold in the youth team and move on to the 2022 South American Games in October. There, in two group stage matches with Colombia and Chile, he scored two more goals, and in the semifinal with Uruguay scored a hat-trick. Only in the final with Paraguay (0:1) Justin for the first time could not distinguish himself for the U-20 team.
In 2023, Cuero played for the Ecuadorian national team in the South American Championship, which was eventually won by Brazil with Zenit defender Robert Renan in the team. Also, during the tournament he became the captain of the team. Justin scored one goal each against Chile and Uruguay and netted a brace against Paraguay. The last match was the most important for the Ecuadorians, as the winner took fourth place and received a ticket to the World Youth Championship. Two well-executed shots that Cuero helped win – 2:1. In the first episode he opened the “tip” and shot from the left to touch, and in the second he closed the cross in a fall with his head.
justin leather
Photo: Marcio Machado/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
In May-June 2023, Justin again played the role of team captain with Ecuador at the Youth World Cup. In the tournament with the participation of teams from other continents, he also did not miss. In the group stage, he scored once in the match with Slovakia and scored twice in the match with Fiji. In the round of 16 he scored against South Korea, but this was not enough. The Ecuadorians lost with a score of 2:3 and flew.
In total, Cuero has 16 goals in 22 games with the youth team. Impressive performance, although he did score a few goals from the penalty spot. It is quite possible that Justin will become home to the same star as one of the 2022 World Cup heroes, Enner Valencia.
Cuero is a true “nine”, a free-kick shooter, however, depending on the situation, he can go deep and help midfielders. He is a physically strong striker, who moves well and knows how to find free spaces. And most importantly – score. He remains to transfer this quality to adult football. Orenburg, who started the new RPL season unsuccessfully, now really needs goals.
