Déiber Jair Caicedo Mideros (born 25 March 2000) is a Colombian professional

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 lea ...

who plays as a winger for

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

side

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, capital of the department of Atlantic ...

Club career

Early career

Born in Barbacoas in the

Nariño Department Nariño () is a department of Colombia named after independence leader Antonio Nariño. Its capital is Pasto. It is in the west of the country, bordering Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean. Nariño has a diverse geography and varied climate acc ...

of Colombia, Caicedo moved to

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

to pursue a football career, playing for local sides Sanín and Pance. During his youth, he also represented the Valle del Cauca Department.

Deportivo Cali

Caicedo joined the academy of professional side

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful football t ...

in 2013. In a May 2023 interview with

Caracol Televisión Caracol Televisión () (known as Caracol and previously as Canal Caracol) is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Caracol Medios, a unit of Grupo Valorem. It is one of the leading private TV networks in Colombia, alongside Canal ...

, Caicedo stated that the academy was very competitive, and due to his height he had to adapt to stand out, but that the experience ultimately made him a better footballer. On 3 February 2018, Caicedo was given his debut by first-team manager Gerardo Pelusso, when he came on as a second-half substitute for Fabián Sambueza in a 0–0

draw with

Envigado Envigado () is a city and municipality due South of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta, An ...

. On his third start for the club, he scored the second goal in a 4–0 win against Boyacá Chicó; after asking teammate Jhon Mosquera to take a free kick just outside the penalty area, he lifted the ball over the wall and beyond Boyacá Chicó goalkeeper Sérgio Avellaneda. He dedicated the goal to his sister, María José, who had died at the age of eleven in a robbery.

Vancouver Whitecaps

Following a good start to his career with Deportivo Cali, he was linked to Mexican sides

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

and

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in mid-2020. Despite the links, he remained with Deportivo Cali until the conclusion of the 2020 season. On January 26, 2021, Canadian side

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

acquired Caicedo from Deportivo Cali, the club announced they acquired his discovery rights from

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...

for $75,000 General Allocation Money. It was also announced that Caicedo signed a contract with Vancouver through 2023 with a club option for 2024. His maiden season in the

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

ended with five goals and five assists, and he received some criticism from fans for his decision to move to Canada. Caicedo himself said that he was "adapting day by day", and though the tactics in the MLS were "very different formations are used to those in Colombia", he did not "regret having made this decision o move to Canada as it had "has made imgrow". A serious injury suffered in the 2022 season ruled him out for eight months; having notched a goal and two assists in his first fifteen games, he tore the meniscus in his right knee in a match against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

on 27 June 2022. On 8 July, the Vancouver Whitecaps confirmed that Caicedo would undergo surgery, and he was placed on the MLS

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

. He returned to the Vancouver Whitecaps first team for the 2023 season, but due to the form of forwards

Simon Becher Simon Michael Becher (born July 20, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club St. Louis City. Early life Becher was born in Topeka, Kansas, and raised in Brooklyn, Connecticut. He went ...

and Brian White, as well as new signing Sergio Córdova, Caicedo found himself struggling for starts, mostly featuring as a substitute. He was added to the roster of

Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional association football, soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteratio ...

, and scored on his debut for the side in a 5–2

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

win against Minnesota United FC 2.

Loan to Atlético Junior

On 3 August 2023, Caicedo signed a new contract with the Vancouver Whitecaps, through 2024 with an option for a further year, before being loaned to

side

on a one-year deal with a purchase option.

Back at the Vancouver Whitecaps

On 31 July 2024, Caicedo returned to the

after his loan spell at

International career

Caicedo represented Colombia at the

2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international association football, football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India from 6 to 28 Octo ...

, scoring in a 3–1 victory against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He was called up for the

2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

, stating that he wanted to "demonstrate all isabilities".

Style of play

Standing at 1.65 metres, Caicedo was given the nickname ''La Nigua'' (the

chigger ''Trombicula'', known as chiggers, red bugs, scrub-itch mites, or berry bugs, are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) in the Trombiculidae family. In their larval stage, they attach to various animals and humans, then feed on skin, often ...

) by commentator Giovanni Tolozza, due to his short stature, speed and ability to 'sting' defences.

Career statistics

;Notes

Honours

Vancouver Whitecaps FC *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

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 ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

Most Promising Male Player: 2021

References

External links

Deiber Caicedo
at FIFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Caicedo, Deiber 2000 births Living people People from Barbacoas, Nariño Footballers from Nariño Department Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's youth international footballers 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football forwards Categoría Primera A players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players Deportivo Cali footballers Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Atlético Junior footballers 20th-century Colombian sportsmen