A full international from 2005 to 2017, Caicedo represented Ecuador at the Copa América in 2007 and 2011, as well as at the 2014 World Cup. Caicedo is also Ecuador's sixth highest goalscorer of all-time with 22 goals to his name.[2]
Club career
Basel
Caicedo began his professional career with lower-class Rocafuerte a club based in Guayaquil, Ecuador. At that time, they played in the third level of professional football in the Ecuadorian regional league.
Caicedo was signed by Swiss Super League side FC Basel during the 2005–06 season for an undisclosed fee while he was just 17 years old. Due to his age, he was trained in the Basel youth department playing with their U-21 team, apart from a few test matches with the senior team. Following his coming of age on 5 September 2006, he joined Basel's first team for their 2006–07 season under head coach Christian Gross, who started his eighth season with the club in that position. After playing in seven test games, Caicedo played his domestic league debut for the team on 10 September, at the home game in the St. Jakob-Park as Basel won 2–1 against Zürich, being substituted on in the 82nd minute.[3] He scored his first professional goal, three weeks later on 1 October, in an away game in the Swiss Cup. Coming on in the 74th minute he scored the team's second goal just three minutes later and Basel went on to win 4–0 against Lugano.[4] He scored his first league goal for the team in the home game on 9 November. In the 56th minute, the away team went 2–0 up, Basel coach Gross reacted and brought in Caicedo as substitute immediately. Just six minutes later Caicedo scored his team’s first goal and in the 85th Cristiano netted the equaliser.[5]
Another goal worth mentioning, came just three days later, on 12 November in the Swiss Cup away match against lower-classed Baulmes. Caicedo was substituted on at half-time as Basel were two goals down. In the 73rd minute Caicedo scored for the team, who were able to equalise another seven minutes later. During the extra time Basel achieved the third goal to the 3–2 victory to advance to the quarter-finals.[6] In the final, played on 28 May 2007 in the Stadion Wankdorf in Bern, Basel won 1–0 against Luzern and Caicedo, therefore won his first professional title- Caicedo was included in the starting lineup.[7] That season Caicedo had 27 league appearances, scoring seven goals and he had five cup appearances, scoring twice. The team ended the league as runners-up.[8]
On 19 July 2007 it was announced that Caicedo had prematurely prolonged his contract with Basel, intending to keep him with the club summer 2010.[9] Nevertheless, it was also known that the end of the season, Everton and Juventus had shown interest in the player, with Milan even said to have failed with their offer during the summer break.[10] Basel played in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. Winning both matches in the qualification round against SV Mattersburg and both matches in the play-off round against Sarajevo, they team advanced to the group stage, which they ended undefeated in second position, after playing 1–0 at home against Stade Rennes, 0–0 away against Dinamo Zagreb, 1–0 at home against Brann and 1–1 away against Hamburger SV, to continue the knockout stage. Caicedo had played in all eight of these matches and he had scored three goals. He had also played in all 18 matches in the first half of the 2007–08 Swiss Super League season, netting four times. He also played in three of the four matches in the 2007–08 Swiss Cup, but without scoring. The UEFA published on their internet site on 31 January 2008, that Manchester City had reached an agreement with FC Basel 1893 and had signed the player on a long term deal.[11] The transfer fee stated on the site of €6.9m was a Swiss transfer fee record for that time.[12]
During his time with the club. Caicedo played a total of 79 games for Basel scoring a total of 23 goals. 45 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, eight in the Swiss Cup, eight in the UEFA Cup and 18 were friendly games. He scored 11 goals in the domestic league, two in the cup, three in the European games and the other seven were scored during the test games.[13]
Manchester City
On 31 January 2008, it was announced that Manchester City had secured Caicedo's services on a four-and-a-half-year deal through a £5.2 million transfer fee (€7 million), which would make his sale one of the highest transfers in the history of the Swiss Super League. His transfer to Manchester City was completed after Caicedo was granted a work permit.[14] Caicedo was described by his manager as "one of the great South American talents" and was also compared to the Brazilian Adriano.[15] He made his debut on 10 February 2008, in a 2–1 away win against rivals Manchester United, coming on in the second half.[16] He ended the season with 10 appearances in the Premier League, all of them coming on as a substitute.
Caicedo scored his first goal for City the following season in a UEFA Cup group stage loss against Racing de Santander.[17] He scored his second consecutive goal with a back heel in a league game against West Bromwich Albion, but the goal was initially ruled as an own goal, as it hit the post and then the goalkeeper before finally going in. The goal was later given back to Caicedo after reconsideration from the Dubious Goals Committee. After these solid performances, both coming off the bench, club manager Mark Hughes gave him the opportunity to start his first game in the league and he went on to score for the third game in a row, this time scoring the first two goals in a 5–1 victory against Hull City on 26 December 2008, taking his goal tally up to four.[18]
Caicedo opened the scoring in the first leg of the UEFA Cup last 16 tie with Aalborg BK at the City of Manchester Stadium. Manchester City won the game 2–0. Caicedo scored his sixth goal of the season for the club in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals against Hamburger SV on 16 April 2009. Although City won the match 2–1, they were eliminated from the cup 4–3 on aggregate.[19] Caicedo impressed many Manchester City fans that season with his strong performances as a single striker with the ability to hold up the ball in key areas and shrug off defenders. Caicedo's seventh City goal came in City's 3–1 home win over Blackburn Rovers on 2 May,[20] and netted his eighth goal in the 1–0 home win over Bolton Wanderers on the last day of the season.[21]
Loan to Sporting CP
At the start of the 2009–10 season, Caicedo was tipped to leave City in order to get more playing time, especially after the club signed fellow forwards Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Carlos Tevez. On 23 July 2009, Sporting Clube de Portugal and Manchester City reached an agreement over an initial one-year loan with an option of a permanent deal,[22] which would allow him to be part of their squad for the 2009–10 Champions League, potentially allowing Caicedo a year to develop himself as a forward before returning to Manchester City. Caicedo made his debut for Sporting CP after coming on as a substitute for an injured Hélder Postiga in the 38th minute of a 2–1 loss against Braga on 22 August 2009.[23] After suffering a Stretched Ligament injury in a match against Braga which ruled him out of action for 3 weeks, Caicedo made his return for Sporting against Olhanense on 21 September 2009, and provided an assist for Simon Vukčević's winning goal in a 3–2 victory. Caicedo, however, found it difficult to adapt at Sporting and his loan deal was cut short in January 2010. In total, the Ecuadorian played 11 games for the Portuguese club but failed to score in any.[24]
Loan to Málaga
After Sporting decided to end Caicedo's loan spell at the club, other clubs showed interest in the Manchester City striker, Málaga CF and Hull City amongst them. On 8 January 2010, Caicedo decided to join Málaga on loan, rejecting an offer from Hull City.[25][26]
He scored his first La Liga goal for Málaga with a beautiful individual effort against Racing de Santander, helping Málaga win 3–0 on 14 February 2010.[27] On 10 April 2010, Caicedo scored his first goal in two months which is his second goal in 2–1 loss against Sevilla and 4 days later on 14 April 2010, Caicedo scored again after 4 days of scoring his first goal which is his third goal in a 2–2 draw against Osasuna. On the final matchday of the domestic season, Málaga required a point to stay above the relegation zone, where they faced Real Madrid at home at La Rosaleda. Caicedo started and provided a wonderful assist for Duda to open the scoring in the ninth minute.[28] Real Madrid levelled after the break through Rafael van der Vaart, but the early goal was enough for Málaga to avoid relegation.[29]
Just one hour before the deadline of the Spanish summer transfer window (24:00 CEST), Caicedo completed a loan move to freshly promoted Levante UD for the 2010–11 season.[30] This revitalized his career, where by December 2010, he had contributed seven goals in 12 appearances; included in these seven goals was a brace scored against Racing de Santander on 21 November 2010.[31] Along with a Christian Stuani strike, Levante went on to win 3–1, picking themselves out of the relegation zone after a miserable four-match losing streak.[32]
Levante lost on 18 December 2010 to Athletic Bilbao by a score of 2–1. Caicedo scored the only goal for the hosts.[33] This was the last game before the winter break and started an abysmal five-game losing streak for Levante that left them at the bottom of the Liga table.[34] Levante turned this around on 29 January 2011 when they welcomed Getafe CF. Caicedo added the second goal of a 2–0 win and lifted the relegation strugglers from the bottom of the zone.[35]
On 11 May, Caicedo scored his 13th league goal of a successful campaign against FC Barcelona at the Estadi Ciutat de València.[36] Caicedo finished the ball in fine fashion, after capitalizing on defender Gerard Piqué's error.[37] The game ended in a 1–1 draw, which handed Barcelona their third-straight La Liga title.[38][39] The crucial point for Levante put them five points above the relegation zone with two games remaining.[40] Caicedo's thirteen league goals helped to secure Levante's place in La Liga for a second season.
On 30 May 2011, Levante officially took up an option to sign him[41] and on 29 June 2011, Levante signed Caicedo for £880,000. In his move, it was revealed that Levante would cash in by selling Caicedo for a large profit in the summer because the club were in debt, owing €12 million ($17 million) a year in repayments. This led to Caicedo quoting: "At €1 million, I am cheap, very cheap. Very, very, very cheap. He is a bargain, but only for Levante."
On 25 July 2011, Caicedo signed a four-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow[43] for a fee of €7.5 million and was handed the number 25 jersey.[44] Previously, Lokomotiv Moscow tried to sign Caicedo in the winter transfer window before it closed on 10 March 2011 after Lokomotiv Moscow failed to sign Stuttgart striker Ciprian Marica. Following his move to Lokomotiv, club president Olga Smorodskaya accused Levante of behaving unprofessionally in the sale and hit out at Levante for their lack of co-operation during negotiations, saying to RIA Novosti that the deal was "very difficult" because, "Levante's directors seemed to have very poor knowledge of FIFA regulations."[45]
Caicedo playing for Lokomotiv Moscow
On 14 August 2011, Caicedo made his debut in the Russian Premier League after coming on at the 61st minute for Dmitri Loskov as Lokomotiv Moscow drew 0–0 against Volga.[46] On 28 August 2011, Caicedo scored his first goal which proved to be the winning goal against Kuban Krasnodar.[47] After scoring for Lokomotiv Moscow, Caicedo began scoring and providing assists on a weekly basis for 4 weeks including 3 goals. The first of these goals came against FC Zenit Saint Petersburg in a 4–2 win on 10 September 2011,[48] another against Terek Grozny in a 4–0 win,[49] and the third and final of the run against Anzhi, a goal which again proved to be the winning goal.[50] He had provided his one assist of the run a week before, assisting Alberto Zapater who scored his first goal for Lokomitiv in the 1–1 draw against Rubin Kazin on 25 September 2011.[51] In the first half of the Russian Premier League, Caicedo made 13 league appearances, scoring 6 goals.
In the Europa League, Caicedo made his debut in the Play-off round as Lokomotiv Moscow beat Spartak Trnava 3–1 on aggregate on 25 August 2011.[52] On 20 October 2011, Caicedo scored his first Europa League goal in a 3–1 win over AEK Athens on a Group Stage.[53] On 16 February 2012 in the Round of 32 of the Europa League, Caicedo scored a winning goal in the 71st minute against Athletic Bilbao in a 2–1 win of the first leg of the Round of 32 of the Europa League. Caicedo also provided an assist for Denis Glushakov to score a penalty in the 61st minute after Caicedo was fouled in the penalty box.[54] In the second leg of the Europa League Round of 32, Caicedo played as his club were eliminated after Athletic Bilbao won 1–0, winning on the away goals rule.[55]
In the January transfer window, reports from Brazil and Ecuador claimed that Caicedo was joining Série B side Boa Esporte on loan.[56] However, the move was rejected by Olga Smorodskaya saying that she has no intention in loaning him to Boa and says the offer was "nonsense".[57]
Al-Jazira
In 2014, Felipe Caicedo joined Al-Jazira. Upon the arrival of Mirko Vučinić to the club, Al-Jazira and Caicedo held talks about terminating his contract, making him a Free agent.[58]
On 2 August 2017, Caicedo was signed by Lazio for €2.5million.[60][61] He was given the number 20 by his new club. On 20 August, Caicedo made his league debut vs SPAL coming on as a substitute for Senad Lulić in the 85th minute. On 3 December, he came off the bench to score his first Serie A goal in injury-time of Lazio's 1–2 away win over Sampdoria. Notably he continued scoring a series of extra time goals, six in total, which made him the player with most goals after the 90-minute mark in the history of Serie A.[62] Along with the one to Sampdoria these goals include games against Cagliari (1-2), Sassuolo (1-2), Juventus (3-1), Torino (3-4) and Juventus (1-1), with the exception of the 1–1 with Juventus, all games that led to a Lazio victory.[63] While playing for Lazio he won two Italian Supercup titles (2017, 2019) and one Coppa Italia (2018-2019). During the 2019-2020 Lazio became the club for which he played the most in his career.
On 10 February 2009, Caicedo scored the winning goal in a 3–2 victory against England's U-21 team.[67]
On 21 March 2013, following the words of Agustín Castillo, the coach of El Salvador, that the current Ecuador team is the "best Ecuador of the history", Caicedo scored twice against El Salvador.[68]
In September 2017, Caicedo announced his retirement from the national team after manager Gustavo Quinteros was sacked.[69]
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↑ "Felipe Caicedo, nou fitxatge"[Felipe Caicedo, new signing]. rcdespanyol.com (in Catalan). RCD Espanyol de Barcelona. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
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