At just 19 years old, the central defender was indisputable with Ecuador in the Copa América and made the leap to Germany, where he has already completed great performances.
When Bayern Munich beat the Bayer Leverkusen by the overwhelming marker of 5-0 in a match for the leadership of the Bundesliga, on October 17, many considered it the ideal example to describe the huge gap that separates the German giant from the rest of its rivals in the championship.
However, many ignored everything Leverkusen had to do to stand up to Bayern Munich, especially in defense. And it is that the withdrawal of the Bender brothers, Sven and Lars, in addition to the output of Alexander Dragovic, they left the Aspirin team with no weight benchmarks on the bottom line.
Added to all this is the unfortunate injury to the rising star from last season, Edmond Tapsoba, with which Gerardo Seoane had to perform miracles to form the defense for that game. However, before facing Bayern, Leverkusen I had only conceded six goals in six games played.
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Not to mention the absence of another of his new defense stars: Piero Hincapié. The Ecuadorian was forced to stay out of the call because he participated with his National Team in the South American Qualifiers and given his level shown so far, surely he could have done something against Bayern.
Leverkusen have not lost to Hincapié on the pitch so far this season. The numbers with the Ecuadorian are really extraordinary: five wins and two draws in seven Bundesliga games since the center-back arrived at BayArena from Workshops, a club that received $ 7 million for his transfer.
Some may think that neutralizing Robert Lewandowski and the rest of the Bayern stars would have been impossible for a talent of 19 years. However, Hincapié has shown in his short career that has everything you need to compete against the best forwards in the world.
With Hincapié there are great expectations in Ecuador, to the point that he was summoned to dispute the America Cup and was part of the starting eleven in the debut against Colombia. After that match, the center-back played every minute of the tournament until the quarterfinals, when they were eliminated against Argentina.
After facing figures of the stature of Lionel Messi, Roberto Firmino and Vinicius Junior, Hincapié showed that lack of experience with an extremely interesting performances.
“We have been watching it for a long time“Rolfes said when the transfer from Hincapie to Leverkusen was known.” His very good performance against world-class players in a great tournament like the America’s Cup confirms that Piero has a very promising future. “
Hincapié’s training began in local clubs such as SC Norte América and Deportivo Azogues, before reaching the best youth academy in Ecuadorian soccer: Independent of the Valley, a team he arrived at when he was just 14 years old.
Hincapié has stood out as a modern center-back, basically due to his good technique and skill with the ball, one of his strengths. In the Copa América he was the center-back with the most offensive passes in the entire group stage (89), showing an astonishing calm in moments of possession.
He also stands out for his good aerial game, although height is not his main strength (1,84 m). The Bayer Leverkusen center-back makes up for it with his great physical strength, which has allowed him to win most of the duels he has against rivals.
The Ecuadorian prospect made his professional debut in August 2019, after having been the captain of the National Team of his country at the beginning of that year, reaching fourth place in the South American Sub 17; However, he only played two games with Independiente before going to Talleres in 2020.
“He is the best youth defender in Latin America“, said the president of Workshops, Andrés Fassi about the arrival of Hincapié to the Argentine club. The manager gave him a status that could have been taken as a surprise at the time, after a while it was something obvious before making the leap to the Old Continent .
Bayern Munich, Paris-Saint Germain, Milan and Atlético de Madrid were the clubs that had been following Hincapié very closely in the transfer market. However, Leverkusen beat everyone and closed the Ecuadorian transfer, whom they signed for a five-year contract.
In addition to impressing with his good defensive performance, Hincapié has also shown that he can be a powerful weapon in the opponent’s area. We already saw it in the duel against Celtic in the Europa League, scoring his first goal for the German team a few weeks ago.
“Already in his last two or three games we noticed that not affected by the pressure of the stadiums. He stayed calm, had a good game resolution and won many duels. The goal was the icing on the cake as it is obviously not his main task, “said Seoane, happy about Hincapié’s match at Celtic Park.
However, for Hincapié, Leverkusen has what it takes to become a springboard that allows you to make the leap to a more renowned team. The Ecuadorian central defender aims for the highest, but he is aware that he must first do things well so that little by little he will grow over time.
