Linda Caicedo, new player of Spanish soccer team Real Madrid.Real Madrid
Colombian soccer player Linda Caicedo has had an intense week. On Tuesday he played a friendly with the Colombian team in Mexico, on Wednesday he turned 18, on Thursday he arrived in Spain and this Friday his big dream came true: he signed for the Real Madrid women. “Linda Caicedo is already a madridista!” announced the merengue club, welcoming her with a series of messages on their social networks. It’s a young team, registered in 2020 and still in the shadow of Barcelona. However, the desire for growth and the expectations placed on Caicedo are unmistakable.
According to Forbes magazine, Real Madrid is the most financially valuable football club in the world. But their performance in the women’s league falls far short of the strength that exists in the men’s competitions. Barcelona, the Madrid team’s classic rivals, are the champions of the Spanish women’s premier league. The challenge is to dethrone the eternal rivals.
On the other hand, the signing fuels illusions about Caicedo’s bullish trend. The footballer had a great 2022: she was voted the best player of the 2022 Women’s Copa América and the best young footballer in the world in a classification by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS, for its English acronym). However, the floating dream was to project his career abroad, which was only possible once he had come of age. Now Real Madrid is the chance. Caicedo will be the first Colombian woman to land in the white club, joining a squad that already includes two other Latinos, Mexican Kenti Robles and Brazilian Kathellen.
There was speculation about the transfer up to the last minute. Caicedo had offers from the most successful clubs so far, such as Barcelona and Chelsea in England. However, he chose a young team. The Madrid project needs success in the women’s field to be able to compete with Barcelona.
Caicedo arrived in Spain on Thursday after attending the Women’s Revelations Cup in Monterrey, Mexico, with her teammates from the Colombian team. He smiled, delighted, and put his signature in context: “It’s important. Not just for me, but for women’s football in the country.” She knows that her character projects many more players who have overcome a hostile environment. Colombian soccer players in recent years have denounced the precarious working conditions they face and themselves talked to managers for a long time.
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Colombian football shone in 2022 when Caicedo and her teammates reached the final of the U-17 Women’s World Cup in India. The support of the Colombians remained solid despite the distance of more than 15,000 kilometers and made the female branch of this sport visible. The promises of better working conditions came later: Sports Minister María Isabel Urrutia told this newspaper that the 2023 women’s professional football league would last 11 months. However, in February, the Major Division of Colombian Soccer (Dimayor) announced it would only be for five months.
The character of Caicedo sparks excitement among her teammates, sports fans and Colombians in general. Carolina Jaramillo, author of Crystal Ball, a history of women’s soccer in Colombia, told this newspaper a few days ago that the athlete attracts because she is someone who is young, happy and wants to “take over the world”. “She represents a black player from a humble class who has progressed and is now in the elite,” he said. Ex-soccer player Nicole Regnier said something similar: “She is without a doubt the most talented player who was ever born in Colombia.”
The athlete started playing for América de Cali in 2019. She was 14 and a league champion and goalscorer. The following year he moved to his backyard rivals Deportivo de Cali. There they won the highest local cup again in 2021. The greatest success, however, came last year when the U-17 women’s team became the first Colombian team to reach the World Cup final. Caicedo won the Silver Ball and the Bronze Shoe. Also in the Copa América, Colombia qualified with her as a character for the World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand that year.
The next game of Real Madrid women’s team will be on March 4th against Alhama. Expectations are high for Caicedo but specialists like Nicole Regnier have no doubts that he will do very well. “I’m sure it will fit perfectly, it will be a matter of short time before it adapts and starts to shine,” he told the newspaper.
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