Mario Antonio Cáceres Gómez (born 17 March 1981) is a Chilean former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. During his career, he played for Colo-Colo on three occasions (being nicknamed "El Petrolero" in his country), but also plied his trade in four countries.

Club career

Born in the capital

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Cáceres made his debut for Colo-Colo in 1998, but spent the following years on loan in the country, to Ñublense and Corporación Deportiva Everton de Viña del Mar respectively. Caceres was signed by

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

in January 2001, at the same time as compatriot

Rodrigo Tello Rodrigo Álvaro Tello Valenzuela (born 14 October 1979) is a Chilean former professional footballer. He operated mainly as a left midfielder, but could also appear in the middle and as an attacking left back. He spent the better part of his e ...

. Grossly unsettled he returned to Colo-Colo after just a few months, as the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

club refused to activate the buying option it had on the player. At the start of the 2004 season, Cáceres switched for

C.D. Universidad de Concepción Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepción also known as Universidad de Concepción, are a Chilean Association football, football club based in Concepción, Chile, Concepción, that is a current member of the Primera B de Chile, Primera B. The cl ...

, but left the following year to

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

side

Lobos de la BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 193 ...

. Before the start of 2005's Apertura, Cáceres moved to another country, transferring to Greek team

Aris FC Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jamai ...

, in the country's second level. In 2006, he rejoined Colo-Colo for a third stint, but returned to Greece and its division two the next year, with Pas Giannina FC. Cáceres found some stability in the 2008 summer, going on to play two seasons at Switzerland's

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League. History Founde ...

. Subsequently, he returned to his country, first joining San Luis de Quillota and going on to represent

Audax Italiano Audax Club Sportivo Italiano () is a Chilean football club based in La Florida. Founded in 1910, it plays in the Campeonato Nacional and has spent most of its history in the top tier of Chilean football. Audax has been national champions four t ...

, former team Everton and

Deportes Temuco Deportes Temuco is a Chilean football club based in Temuco, Araucanía Region. It currently plays in the Chilean Primera División B, holding home games at the new '' Estadio Municipal Germán Becker''. The club was founded on February 22, 196 ...

International career

Cáceres capped for

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

at under-20 level, appearing at both the

2001 South American U-20 Championship The 2001 South American U-20 Championship (Sudamericana sub-20) was a football competition contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in Ecuador between January 12 and February 4, 2003, it was the 20th ti ...

and the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar de ...

. He also played for the nation at the 2004

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

Pre-Olympic tournament.

Managerial career

He began his managerial career as an assistant coach in the Colo-Colo youth ranks and coach of

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros del ...

at under-13 level. From 2018 to 2022, he worked as the assistant coach of Rodolfo Madrid in

Rodelindo Román Rodelindo Román is a Chilean Football club, their home town is San Joaquín, Chile, San Joaquín, Santiago. They currently play in the third level of Chilean football, the Segunda División Profesional de Chile, Segunda División. The club we ...

at minor categories of the Chilean football.

Personal life

His nickname, ''El Petrolero'' (The Oilman), was given by the Chilean

play-by-play commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

Claudio Palma Claudio Rodrigo Palma Barrueto (born 1 June 1969) is a Chilean play-by-play commentator. He has related the most important Chilean football matches for various television and radio networks, including Canal del Fútbol (CDF; 2003–2014/2018� ...

, due to the fact that he had a hard time picking up speed during the matches, like the diesel cars. His brother, Carlos Cáceres Gómez, is a former footballer who played in Indonesia for

PS Palembang PS Palembang (English: ''Football Association of Palembang'') is an Indonesian football club based in Palembang, South Sumatra. The team is also known as "Segentar Alam Warriors" and is owned by the Government of Palembang. Logo The circular lo ...

and current football coach who has worked for clubs such as

Cobresal Club de Deportes Cobresal or simply Cobresal, is a Chilean football club based in El Salvador, Atacama, a Chilean mining camp, and participates in Campeonato Nacional. The team was founded on 5 May 1979, and the name of the club comes from the l ...

(women). In 2015, he worked as a football commentator for the Chilean TV sports channel Canal del Fútbol.

Honours

Club

; Colo-Colo * Primera División de Chile (3): 2002 Apertura, 2006 Apertura, 2006 Clausura *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

(1): Runner-up

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caceres, Mario 1981 births Living people Footballers from Santiago Chilean footballers Chile youth international footballers Chile under-20 international footballers Association football forwards Chilean Primera División players Primera B de Chile players Colo-Colo footballers Ñublense footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers Universidad de Concepción footballers Unión Española footballers San Luis de Quillota footballers Audax Italiano footballers Deportes Temuco footballers Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP B players Sporting CP footballers Liga MX players Lobos BUAP footballers Football League (Greece) players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players FC St. Gallen players Chilean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Greece Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Chilean football managers Chilean association football commentators