There is a connection between under-17 World Cup finals in India and Real Madrid. In 2017, Vinicius Jr was not allowed to travel by Flamengo but by then Real Madrid had seen enough of the Brazilian prodigy. Linda Caicedo’s passage to India faced no such hurdles but not long after she was done with the women’s under-17 World Cup in 2022, Real Madrid wanted to sign her. And with two goals in two games, including a curler against former world champions Germany, she is rocking it in the ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Having begun the under-17 World Cup with a 0-1 defeat to Spain, Caicedo got Colombia’s campaign back on track with a brace against China at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The first showed her poacher’s instinct and the ability to read the game about which so much has been said in Australia and New Zealand. Caicedo was at the right place at the right time to tap in a delivery from the right that took a wicked deflection off Chinese defender Huang Jiaxin. The second was a crisp left-footer after dragging the ball with her right.
The first touch that had Sydney Football Stadium gasping in disbelief when Caicedo cushioned a long ball by bending and lifting her right leg behind her against South Korea was evident in the must-win group league game against Mexico in Margao. Caicedo reacted first and fast to a headed clearance that went back instead of front and, from inside a defensive sandwich, scored with a first-time lob off her right foot. In the quarter-final against Tanzania, Caicedo scored with a cheeky dink. Those four goals made Caicedo the joint top-scorer and fetched her silver ball awarded to the second-best player of the competition where Colombia finished runners-up.
By the time Caicedo had arrived in India the broad contours of her story were known: she had made her national team debut at 14, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 15 but made full recovery, had played the under-20 World Cup where she had scored twice against New Zealand and the 2022 Copa America where Colombia were runners-up to Brazil and she was adjudged Player of the Tournament. If Caicedo was well known before she came to India, she left with her reputation enhanced. Real Madrid said as much while announcing her signing last February. In 10 league games in 2022-23, Caicedo has scored two goals and made four assists
It was in 2017 that Colombia decided to focus on youth, head coach Nelson Abadia has said at the Women’s World Cup. Caicedo was one of those Abadia hand-held into the senior team. She and defender Ana Guzman are two players from the under-17 squad who are part of the side which will play Morocco on Thursday in Group H. Barring South Korea, all teams have a chance to progress but only Colombia go into the final set of games with an all-win record.
Caicedo was 12 when she was brought into the national team set-up, Abadia has said. “And then she started to grow.” If the under-17 World Cup was about her opportunism, Down Under Caicedo has shown her prowess from farther out. The goal against South Korea was due to an error from goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul and the space South Korea gave her in a game where the pencil-thin attacker with braided hair played on both flanks. But her strike against twice world champions Germany would be a contender for the goal of the tournament.
Switching the ball between her feet, Caicedo took out one of the two Germans marking her and fired a right-footer that bent in at the far post. As Caicedo fist pumped, Sydney Football Stadium, where it seemed all of the nearly 38,000 Colombians living in Australia had fetched up in the team’s canary yellow shirt and with the national flag, shook. The only South American to have scored at a World Cup younger than Caicedo, 18, is Marta.
Assistant coach Angelo Marsiglia said she was an extraordinary player, one who always asks for the ball and brings joy to everyone. “She’s from another planet – a different type of player, entirely unique.”
After the opening game, Caicedo, having pointed out that she was young “very young”, said: “I came here to enjoy this World Cup, with no pressure.” The scare of collapsing during training before the game against Germany notwithstanding, Caicedo certainly is enjoying as a breakout star in a tournament that will be the last for Megan Rapinoe, Marta, Sophie Schmidt and possibly for her Canada’s teammate Christine Sinclair.