by This March 15, Linda Caicedo was chosen as the Queen of America, that is, the best player on the continent, becoming the first Colombian to win the award.
The prize, delivered by the newspaper The countryusually honors the best player in America, but the category of best player appeared in the 2022 edition, in which the Brazilian Tamires, from Corinthians, won.
This year the turn was for Linda Caicedo, who continues to make history in coffee football. The other two finalists for the award were the Argentinian Yamila Rodríguez and the Brazilian Bia Zaneratto, both militants from Palmeiras, current champion of the Copa Libertadores. However, the Colombian prevailed over them.
Linda Caicedo not only signed a dream 2022 with Deportivo Cali, with which she shone in the Copa Libertadores, but also with the Colombian National Team in the Under 17 and older categories: with the first of them she was crowned runner-up in the world in India and with the second she was runner-up in America. A feat to remember.
It was largely because of her stellar performance last year that Linda Caicedo was signed by Real Madrid, where she has played in three games since her arrival less than a month ago. With the merengue team, the talented attacker has already scored a goal, for the Copa de la Reina against Villarreal, giving the team a ticket to the semifinal.
It is worth remembering that Colombian players who have achieved this recognition are Miguel Ángel Borja (2016), Teófilo Gutiérrez (2014) and Pibe Valderrama (1993).
They have also won the award for best technical director Francisco Maturana (1996) and Luis Fernando Montoya (2004), after the Once Caldas title in that year’s edition of the Copa Libertadores, in which they beat Boca Juniors in the grand final. .
On this occasion, who elected Linda Caicedo as the Queen of America were 218 journalists from the continent, who participated in the voting for the 37th edition of the award.
Among the individual distinctions that the Colombian Linda Caicedo has, the Best Under-20 Player of Conmebol in 2022 stands out, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS, for its acronym in English; the Silver Ball for its performance in the Under 17 World Cup, the recognition as the best player of the Copa América Femenina 2022 and the Top scorer in the Professional Women’s League in 2019.
Linda’s first three games at Real Madrid
Linda Caicedo made her debut with Real Madrid on March 4, in the 5-1 win against Alhama CF, when she entered the field of play in the last minutes of the match, in which she showed glimpses of her technical quality.
But he stole the front pages of the sports press on March 9, after scoring his first goal for Real Madrid, in the 2-1 victory over Villarreal in the Copa de la Reina quarterfinals. However, the fans You meringues and the Colombian fans trust that he is not the only one.
The goal by the 18-year-old attacker, who played her second match for the Spanish club coming on as a substitute bench, It arrived in the 100th minute of the commitment, that is, in extra time, due to the equality of a goal with Villarreal in the 90 regulatory minutes.
The question was whether, after the performance in the game against Villarreal, the Real Madrid technical director, Alberto Toril, would allow Linda Caicedo to start the next game, the Spanish classic against Atlético de Madrid, on Sunday, March 12. .
Indeed, Linda Caicedo was the starter and went head to head with the Colombian Leicy Santosthe ’10′ of the set mattress. The match ended goallessly even.
