Anthony Richard Caceres (; born 29 September 1992) is an Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

and the Australia men's national team.

Career

Central Coast Mariners

Caceres made his

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

debut for the Central Coast Mariners in the F3 Derby against the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

, starting in a scoreless draw in January 2013. He scored his first goal for the club one year and two days later, again against the Jets, making a run from halfway and shooting from outside the area to open the scoring in a 3–0 win.

Manchester City

On 15 January 2016, Caceres was sold to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on a long-term contract for fee in the region of AUS$300,000. He was immediately loaned out to their A-League partner, Melbourne City. Caceres' move to Melbourne City sparked some controversy, given that transfer fees are not allowed to be paid directly between A-League clubs.

Loan to Melbourne City

Caceres had a troubled start to life at City, receiving 2 red cards in his first 4 games, the second coming in the 79th minute of the Melbourne Derby. Caceres scored his first goal for City coming off the bench in a 3–1 win over Brisbane Roar, with his headed goal putting City temporarily on top of

table. Caceres's loan to City was extended for successive years in both June 2016 and 2017.

Loan to Al-Wasl

Caceres left Melbourne and moved on loan to Al-Wasl in July 2017, including an option for the

UAE Arabian Gulf League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

side to purchase Caceres outright from Manchester City.

Second loan to Melbourne City

On 25 June 2018, Caceres was loaned once more to Melbourne City for the

2018–19 A-League The 2018–19 A-League was the 42nd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 14th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced on 19 October 2018 and concluded on 28 April 2019. The play-offs began ...

season. His loan was ended on 1 January 2019.

Sydney FC

On 1 January 2019, Caceres was loaned to

. At the end of his contract Caceres returned to Manchester City and was then signed permanently by Sydney FC on a two-year deal.

Personal life

He is married to Melbourne City FC W-League forward Helen Petinos (married on 2 June 2018), whom he met at

Westfields Sports High School Westfields Sports High School (abbreviated as WSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive education, comprehensive and specialist secondary school, secondary day school, ...

. Caceres is of Uruguayan descent and is a Nacional supporter, as he shows in his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. They are the first husband and wife, to play at the same club in the

A-League Men A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as ...

and the affiliated A-League Women.

Career statistics

Honours

;Central Coast Mariners *

Championship: 2012–13 ;Melbourne City * FFA Cup:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

;Sydney FC *

Championship: 2018–19, 2019–20 *

Premiership: 2019–20 *

Australia Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national association football, soccer single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Fo ...

: 2023 ;Individual * Mariners Medal: 2014–15 * A-Leagues All Star:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

* PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caceres, Anthony 1992 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian people of Uruguayan descent Sportspeople of Uruguayan descent Soccer players from Sydney Australian men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Central Coast Mariners Academy players Central Coast Mariners FC players Marconi Stallions FC players Manchester City F.C. players Melbourne City FC players Al Wasl F.C. players Sydney FC players A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars UAE Pro League players Australia men's international soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates