Dario Osorio – Universidad de Chile’s multi-faceted attacking prodigy
Dario Osorio announced himself to Chilean football coming off the bench as a 17-year-old, bursting forward on the counter-attack and scoring a goal in a pre-league tournament match against Colo Colo. He joined Universidad de Chile at U15 level after two scouts saw him play with the Municipal School of Hijuelas, his local school as he was born in the Hijuelas community of the Valparaiso region of Chile. He originally had a stint with Santiago Wanderers as he wanted to be a footballer at a young age as Cristobal Rojas and Mario Santelices as well as Ruben Farfan, a Universidad de Chile player, recommended him to the club. The 18-year-old was smaller than the teammates in his age-group as moving to Santiago made him miss his family while his mother, Alicia, who is a pillar in his life encouraged him to continue to chase his dreams.
His mother is former footballer herself while Dario has already been bestowed with the moniker ‘La Joya’ which is given to exhilarating game-changing geniuses in South American football. Osorio has a shy and withdrawn nature which does not extend to the football pitch as the 18-year-old is a big fan of Alexis Sanchez while he has already made in-roads with the Chilean National Team as he was called up this summer. As Universidad de Chile are currently in an unstable period, the 18-year-old has taken it on himself to provide joy to the fans and drive his team forward as he has already been subject of interest from Brighton and Hove Albion as well as Watford FC in England. He is a left-footed attacker who can play on either flank, receiving possession on the left flank to angle perfectly driven crosses to teammates or tucking inside to receive possession, connect play and make intelligent runs in build-up. He can play on the right flank where he is can cut inside onto his stronger right left foot, angle well-weighted through balls to runners and have shots at goal.
The issues with his size which plagued him during his youth career are no more, he stands tall and lanky while his technical ability is tremendous, his directional first touch when receiving possession in between the lines also mean that he can operate as a central attacking midfielder. He can receive possession with the inside of his boot while he has had situations where he has received possession with the outside of his boot and utilized this area of his foot to flick the ball past a defender with his directional first touch. Osorio thrives when he can occupy multiple positions, moving into the half-spaces where he can receive possession, connect play and make runs while he is also a counter-attacking threat with his incredible close control and unlimited potential as a ball-carrier. This has seen him create opportunities as well as create goalscoring opportunities for himself on the counter-attack.
Away to Universidad Catolica, Osorio came off the bench and opened his account, cutting inside from the flank and working a passing interchange before the 18-year-old calmly applied a clean finish to pull one back for his side. He started off in the deeper areas before moving to the left flank as him and Lucas Assadi injected pace into the game as Osorio received possession on the left flank to constantly drive the ball into the centre. The 18-year-old is so good on his left foot as he made a run in behind to receive possession and smash a strike wide of the far post before he nearly created the equalizing goal, cutting inside to poke a delivery onto the head of an attacker who headed over the bar. He finished his cameo with 2 shots and 1 goal as well as 2 chances created.
He started the next game away to Coquimbo by making an interception in the pressing phase to blast a strike over the bar with his weaker right foot. He is highly intuitive with clever flicks and combinations in tight spaces while being able to curl accurate crosses into the box from the left flank. He created an opportunity when he made a run into the channels to receive possession and play a delicate cut-back for a teammate to have a 1v1 opportunity saved as Osorio is already capable at occupying and receiving the ball in a wide variety of positions. He created another opportunity with another run into the channels to receive possession before crossing for a fellow attacker to have a shot blocked from inside the box. He showed his ball-carrying when he received possession on the left flank to skip past one man, before cutting past another two defenders as he was brought down to earn a free-kick in a situation where he could have released the ball.
Osorio did well to cover for his left-back in Marcelo Morales, making two tackles and winning possession on his flank while he controlled a high ball to stoop low and head a pass to a teammate in the opposition half. The 18-year-old was mostly operating from the left half-space, dropping to receive possession from his fullback while he would evade pressure with one-touch passing connections. At home to Huachipato, it was not one of his more exciting performances at the beginning of the game, receiving possession on the counter-attack to stride forward and play a poorly placed through ball before moving to the right flank where he cut inside and attempted to play a through ball to a runner which was intercepted. Osorio could be more proficient on the left flank where he can tuck inside and receive possession in between the central lines as the teenager would receive possession on the left to cut inside and thread a pass to a runner which led to a shooting opportunity.
He won possession in an aerial duel to flick a pass for Israel Poblete to have a shot on goal before creating another opportunity from a deflected free-kick, lobbing an accurate cross into the box for a teammate to have a header saved. Osorio is unique as at the tender age of 18, he has the potential to be a high-level dribbler while there is an essence of final product to his game as he can create opportunities from crossing situations on both flanks and half-spaces while he is also a gifted through ball player. He moved to the right flank as he was not receiving possession in the right areas but he would have a moment where he received the ball on the left to lay-off a pass to a teammate before making a run in behind to receive possession as he had a 1v1 opportunity smothered by attempting to thread his shot in between the goalkeeper’s legs when there was ample space in the bottom right corner. He began tucking into the half-space, receiving possession in the build-up phase as he was highly involved in the game.
The young attacker moved to the right to receive possession, weaving past a sliding tackle to spread the ball to the left flank for Morales to have a crossing opportunity. The 18-year-old received possession on the right flank once more where he clipped a one-touch cross to the back-post for a teammate to miss an opportunity. The 18-year-old would then get another goal as he received a switch ball from Pablo Aranguiz to control the ball with his right foot before calmly applying the finish with his left. He then received possession after making a well-timed run in behind to attempt a lob which he missed. He continued to cover for his fullback while also working hard in the counter-press, especially after he personally lost possession while he did well to drive into the centre of the pitch with possession and look to thread through balls with his left as when he moved to the opposite flank, he was comfortable stretching the pitch.
He received possession in the build-up phase, cutting inside onto his left foot to send a phenomenal switch pass to Aranguiz across the pitch before receiving possession on the right flank, cutting inside and threading a pass to his fullback who had a high-quality crossing opportunity. He received possession on the same flank, cutting onto his left foot to drive the ball past two defenders to smash a strike high and wide. The 18-year-old finished the game with 4 shots, 2 on target and 1 goal, 3 chances created as well as 4 crosses with 2 on target. Away to Nublense, Osorio would come off the bench to receive possession after a turnover and play a penetrative pass to the nine-space. The Chilean International is already a ball-progression machine with his ball-carrying, combination play in build-up as well as his eye for penetrative passes in the build-up phase as well as in the attacking phase.
Away to Audax Italiano, Osorio received possession from a throw-in to lob a one-touch pass to a teammate in between the lines before the 18-year-old won possession from a turnover to play a one-touch pass to Morales in the half-space before receiving possession flicking a one-touch pass to a teammate with the outside of his left-boot as he also evaded a marker for good leisure. Defensively, he would shuttle across to the right flank to make a tackle in the pressing phase before making another tackle in the defensive phase to play a line-breaking pass forward. After a deflection from an opposition corner, he received possession on the right flank, surging forward to skip past a marker and play the ball to a teammate to facilitate a switch ball to the opposite flank. The 18-year-old exhibited his ability as a build-up conduit, dropping into the eight space to receive possession in the eight space to turn and drive the ball into the opposition half to angle a perfectly weighted through ball to the right flank for an attacker to have a high-quality crossing opportunity. The intriguing thing is the receiver of the ball did not make a run into space as Osorio had the awareness to thread the ball with the perfect weighting and curvature to curl around the opposition defender and into the stride of his teammate.
He received possession on the left flank to evade his marker with his directional first touch, allowing the ball to roll across his body and cutting past his man with his first touch to drive into the centre and work a pass to the ten space. He received possession after a turnover in the defensive phase, making a one-touch pass with his weaker right foot to a teammate before receiving possession once more in a tight space to play a one-touch progressive pass to a teammate in the next line. In the defensive phase, Osorio would be tucked inside, covering for his fullback as the ball was played to the flank where the Chilean pushed out wide to close down an opposition player who made a back-pass for the teenager to push forward to make a tackle and force a turnover. Osorio dropped into the eight space to receive possession from the centre-backs once more to turn and stride forward before picking his head up to look for a pass and realising his teammate on the right flank was offside before he turned and played a pass to the centre.
In the defensive phase, he made another tackle before evading a second marker to drive the ball forward and work a pass to the nine-space to instigate a counter-attacking move. He received possession in between the lines to have a measured first touch before flicking a pass to a teammate with outside of his boot and making a run. Osorio would then have a sensational moment in between the lines as he dropped out of the ten space to receive possession on the half-turn, finding a pocket of space to receive possession with his left foot before nonchalantly flicking the ball forward with the outside of his boot to drive past a marker as he used his body to shield the ball from a second defender to work a pass to a teammate for a move that led to a shot being blocked from the top of the box. He received possession from the centre-back in the same zone for a one-touch pass to the right flank for the fullback to play a deep pass which led to a shot being saved. Osorio repeated the trick for a third time, receiving possession in the right half-space, driving the ball into the centre before flicking a pass to a teammate in the next line.
The 18-year-old is in the top 15 for U23s in expected goals with a 1.86 expected goal number while he has scored 3 goals this season while he is in the top 15 in expected goals per game for his age-group with a figure of 0.27. For expected assists, he has a figure of 1.4 with 0 assists, ranking in the top 10 for U23s where he has accrued this number with the second least minutes in the top 10. In crosses into the six-yard area, he ranks in the top 25 for all players in the Chilean Primera Division while in dribbling, he ranks in the top 15 for U23s while also ranking in the top 10 in the same metric per 90. In key passes, he is in the top 30 in the metric for all available players in Chile while he ranks in the top 10 of the per 90 metrics. He ranks in the top 30 in progressive runs but in the top 10 in per 90 metrics while in terms of ball progression by runs, he ranks in the top 10, leading Chile in the U23 age-group which is impressive as he has only played just over 600 minutes this season.
At 18-years-old and in his first season, Osorio’s underlying metrics are impressive as it shows that he is on the cusp of being one of the most entertaining players in the Chilean Primera Division. As a player who can progress possession, he can drop into either of the half-spaces to receive possession from the centre-backs or into the more central areas to work one-touch connections in tight spaces or he can turn to drive the ball forward and thread immaculate through balls through tight spaces. In the opposition half, he can play on either flank as well as in the central spaces, receiving possession in the wide zone to cross the ball or he can work connections to move into the centre to thread through balls for runners to create crossing or shooting opportunities. He also has the intelligence in combination play and movement to work one-twos with teammates before making runs into the channels to receive possession and have shooting opportunities or higher quality crossing opportunities. In terms of run-making, he has shown potential with his ability to make well-timed runs in behind while he will need to improve his finishing in 1v1s. Defensively, Osorio will show potential as a player who can apply pressure on the ball with efficiency while being able to cover for his fullback as his size allows him to be an imposing figure in 1v1s.
Universidad de Chile have a new coach in Diego Lopez as Dario Osorio has already begun to be the subject of interest from big clubs. Some of his per 90 metrics are better than Pablo Solari who is thought of as one of the better attackers in the league while he has a wide-ranging skillset as it would be best for Osorio to gain more experience with Universidad de Chile and continue accruing minutes for the National Team. Teams in Belgium should be scouting him while Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord would also be good places for the 18-year-old to begin a European adventure. He would suit Stuttgart as he fits with their profile for attackers as well as Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen as his playing style would also suit the Bundesliga. FC Basel would also be a good landing spot for him as with more minutes, the 18-year-old should grow into one of the more high-potential attacking players in South America.
