Linda Caicedo, a 14-year-old player made and unmade with her speed, skill and cool in the 2019 Colombian league. Three years later, Caicedo has his country in the final of the Copa América, in the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Now, according to his father, Mauricio Caicedo, “there are already contacts with Barcelona.”
The smile is contagious and the skill dazzles. Caicedo’s football, in the three years he has been a professional, has been improving and so outstanding has been what has made him a regular part of the calls made by the Colombian coach, Nelson Abadía, since last year.
His debut took place at América de Cali, from where he passed to the backyard rival, Deportivo Cali, a club with which he was champion of the 2021 Colombian league in which he was the great figure in the second leg of the final against Independiente Santa Fe, game in which he scored a double.
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The path to professionalism
Born on February 22, 2005 in Cali, Caicedo grew up in the department of Valle del Cauca (southwest), of which that city is the capital, and there he took his first steps in soccer.
At the Real Juanchito amateur club in the town of Villagorgona, near Cali, the young woman began to play with men and her talent caught the attention of the Atlas CP Sports Club, which began to polish the diamond.
The Valle del Cauca team called her up and that’s where America saw her, until they decided to hire her to be part of the team in the 2019 league.
“The moment I told my dad and my mom that I wanted to be a footballer, they told me yes, that they supported me. The next day we went looking for a club and the only one we found was for men, so that’s where I started”expressed Caicedo at the age of 14 when he was already playing with the Diablas Rojas in an interview with the Cali newspaper ‘El País’.
Her first goal as a professional, a true gem: she received the ball outside the area, with her dribbles and her speed, she undid three players and took a shot low to the ground with which she overcame the resistance of the Cortuluá goalkeeper on the 14th of June 2019.
“The night before I hardly slept thinking about how my debut was going to be. In the previous warm-up, Catalina Usme (the Colombian national team’s all-time top scorer) approached me and told me to come in and do my thing, to come in and contribute (. ..) That gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.
In that first season, Caicedo was the top scorer of the tournament with seven goals along with the Venezuelan Joemar Guarecuco.
(Be sure to read: Freddy Rincón: the emotional dedication of his son in the first goal after his death).
Barcelona and future options
If you take into account that
Caicedo is barely 17 years old and during the three years he has been a professional he has achieved two titles and multiple awards, the future is promising.
He would like to play in the United States, to be able to study in that country, or he dreams of playing for big European teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona or Paris Saint Germain.
“His dream is to play for an international club. There are already contacts with Barcelona, what happens is that due to age it did not arrive. In the US he was also testing but because of his age neither. But as soon as he turns 18, he turns 18, and next year there will be another exit, “his father, Mauricio Caicedo, told ‘Red +’.
For now, Linda sees the near future with Deportivo Cali and with the Colombian national team, but her dream of going to play abroad may materialize sooner than expected. Her talent and her mentality are two factors that will facilitate her process.
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