Moises Caicedo lifted his first trophy, a golden plastic cup, among the tightly packed little houses of a working-class neighborhood in Ecuador. This summer he is heading to his second FIFA World Cup.
The tiny prize he won was lent by a neighbor to give a group of children a taste of victory.
A photograph from those childhood tournaments remains a treasured possession of Jeremy Cedeno, a childhood friend of the Chelsea defensive midfielder who, at the age of 24, would be playing in his second World Cup from June 11.
Photo: EP
It shows Caicedo kneeling, surrounded by five young teammates, beaming, his hands clutching the small winners’ cup from a tournament in the working-class neighborhood of Mujer Trabajadora, in the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas in central Ecuador.
“There wasn’t even a referee,” Cedeno said. “Oh my, the tackles were fierce.”
Caicedo wore that same smile on his face as he lifted the Club World Cup trophy with the Blues in the US in July last year. He had tied the Ecuadoran flag around his waist.
“We’re incredibly proud, because he’s from here, from the neighborhood, where he used to play barefoot,” Cedeno, a 24-year-old paramedic, said.
Caicedo’s transfer in 2023 from Brighton & Hove Albion to Chelsea, for a reported ￡115 million (US$154.6 million at the current exchange rate) set a record for English soccer. He appeared 50 times for Chelsea this season, scoring five goals.
Caicedo, the youngest of 10 children, used to sell flowers in a cemetery to help his family. He is the most expensive player on the Ecuador team, for whom he made his debut aged 18 and has already racked up 60 caps, scoring three cars.
In his hometown of Santo Domingo, Caicedo’s face appears on murals, shirts and even on the shin guards of children who dream of following in his footsteps, such as nine-year-old Julian Hidalgo.
The young boy, who said he admires Caicedo’s intelligence and speed, is coached by the same trainer, Ivan Guerra.
“We remind them that Caicedo started out at this football school, that the pitch was mud, stones and sand, sometimes with shards of glass,” Guerra, 58, said. “We teach the kids to work hard if they want to make their dreams come true.”
He recalled seeing Caicedo play on the street with friends, the financial struggles in organizing matches and how Caicedo helped him park cars in the city’s party district to earn a few coins for the club.
Darwin Castillo coached Caicedo as a teenager at the Jaipadida club.
He said he remembered a shy boy, in some ways “just another kid,” but who already stood out for his fierce determination and exceptional physique.
“Moises’ discipline comes from his upbringing at home ... a very poor family who prayed before eating,” he said.
Caicedo last year was awarded a medal for sporting merit by the Ecuadoran National Assembly.
“Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve always wanted to become a professional footballer” while remaining “the same humble lad who doesn’t forget where he comes from,” he said at the presentation.
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