by Gregors Spricis
Cedric Kouadio has been the team’s longest-serving player, having joined RFS in 2019 from BFC Daugavpils. However, he might have never even set foot on Latvian soil if it weren’t for his and the agent’s mistake in the first place.
In an interview last year, Kouadio revealed that back in 2017, he learned about a team called Daugavpils playing in the 1. līga. However, he didn’t know that in Latvia at that time, 1. līga was the second tier, not the first. He learned this fact just upon boarding his flight to Riga at the airport, but it was too late then.
In Daugavpils, he caught the eye of the RFS general director Māris Verpakovskis. Daugavpils achieved promotion to the Virsliga, which was followed by Kouadio signing for RFS on a permanent deal after a trial period in which he had impressed.
Since then, it has been nothing but success for Kouadio at RFS. During his seven years at the club, he has won six trophies – three Virsliga titles and three Latvian Cup titles, as well as qualified for the UEFA Europa League in 2024 and the UEFA Conference League in 2022.
The game against Liepāja
Kouadio didn’t appear on the pitch in the RFS Virsliga opener against Ogre United, but Viktors Morozs trusted him from the kick-off in their away win against Liepāja.
The Ivorian forward started in a front two with Jānis Ikaunieks and acted as the main connector between the backline and the final third. Coming out to the flanks, Kouadio helped RFS progress the ball further by holding up the ball and looking for a forward pass or an open teammate near him.
His effectiveness in this role was more evident in the second half, when RFS played much less with the ball as Liepāja searched for an equaliser. When regaining possession, RFS had to look for a long ball forward in moments when the difficulty of beating the opposition’s pressing was too great.
Here’s a good example from the game. Žiga Lipušček is playing out of the back, opting to go for a long ball forward.
The ball is targeted at Kouadio, who has taken a great position. He takes the ball down well with his chest.
Andriy Korobenko tries to help Bart Straalman, but Kouadio is quicker. With the next touch, he gets away from him and passes the ball to the open Lasha Odisharia.
Almost the same play happened a few minutes later. Once again, a long ball was played to Kouadio. Using his brilliant ball-controlling ability, he takes the ball down with his feet.
This time, the touch was a bit heavy, but he managed to get a hold of it and play Lasha Odisharia through.
As previously mentioned, this style of play made Kouadio come out wide and play more on the wing than in the center of the field. His heatmap proves it, with his actions on the field mostly taking place on the left-hand side.
However, there were also the same number of unsuccessful actions from his side. On some occasions, Kouadio managed to control the ball brilliantly, but either his pass was inaccurate or his second touch was too heavy.
But considering it was his first competitive minutes this season, playing against a good Liepāja side, it wasn’t bad at all.
Kouadio compared to other RFS forwards
Kouadio is one of the shortest RFS forward options, but he is the best there is in terms of dribbling and control of the ball. As his primary position is on the wing, it also gives another advantage to Viktors Morozs in games in which his side has to defend. Apart from being dangerous in the box, Kouadio can collect the ball and find a pass forward or beat his man by himself. Some traits that a striker like Darko Lemajič or Kingsley Emenike doesn’t have.
This is exactly how Morozs used Kouadio in his favour in the RFS historic draw against Galatasaray back in 2024. Just like in the game against Liepāja, Kouadio was the main connector between the defense and the attack.
His calmness and trickery with the ball helped RFS develop their rare attacks against the Turkish champions.
Through him, RFS also scored their first goal of the night that sparked the legendary comeback.
Ikaunieks extended Žiga Lipušček’s long ball, with Kouadio beating Sanchez to get to it first.
In just two touches, he managed to control the ball and play Ikaunieks through on goal as RFS scored and made it 1:2 at that moment.
That season, Kouadio had six goals and 11 assists in all competitions, including the memorable goal in the Europa League play-off match against APOEL.
Unfortunately, due to an injury, he spent half of the following season out on the sidelines, playing just 259 minutes over a five-game span after coming back in September.
Kouadio will turn 30 in May, and it is clear that his chance of being a starter in the fast-rising RFS team will decrease with each season.
However, he can still play a key role for RFS in the upcoming seasons, even when coming off the bench, as a link between midfield and attack thanks to his dribbling, exquisite ball control, and ability to hold up long passes.
His versatility to operate wide or behind the striker also gives coach Viktors Morozs an important tactical option in games where RFS need to play more without the ball. He’s still undoubtedly a valuable creative outlet and can help RFS develop attacks and create chances in big matches.
