Linda Caicedo was diagnosed with ovarian cancer three years ago at the age of 15. The world collapsed for the exceptional Colombian soccer player. The fight against the insidious disease demanded everything from the striker. After months of hoping and worrying, the teenager was healed. Now she is enchanting the fans with her home country at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Stomach pain, always this terrible stomach pain – for Linda Caicedo they became a constant companion shortly after her 15th birthday. Where did they come from? The doctors assumed that the young woman had inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis). But the treatment failed. The pain became more and more unbearable, so mother Herlinda Alegría and father Mauro Caicedo decided to take their daughter to a clinic for an examination. It was there that Linda received the devastating diagnosis: ovarian cancer.
Football career was in danger because of cancer
From one moment to the next everything was different. A few weeks before the corona virus was supposed to bring the world to a standstill, the highly talented footballer was already standing still for other reasons. “She was devastated and feared she would never be able to play football again,” her mother said on the podcast My New Favorite Futbolista.
Her daughter wept begging the doctors every time she visited the hospital to tell her the truth if she would ever be able to pursue her great passion again. That, according to the doctors, would take a very long time.
Caicedo survives surgery and chemotherapy
Tears, endless tears of despair flowed in the months that followed. Linda first had a tumor removed in an operation, then she started chemotherapy. The drug treatment for the cancer struck at the 15-year-old. After six months she was considered cured. Just two days after her last treatment, she was back on the soccer field at Deportivo Cali. But Linda wasn’t the same Linda as before. Her hair had fallen out and the girl, who was so cheerful before her illness, was very thoughtful.
The psychological scars healed slowly. A wig made by a specialist helped the attacker slowly regain her self-confidence. “As soon as she started wearing the wig, she started smiling again,” said her mother, Herlinda Alegría.
First the cancer, then serious unrest
Step by step, Linda found her way back to her old life. Only the follow-up examinations, which she initially had to attend regularly, made her realize that the cancer could still return. The way from her place of residence to the clinic in Cali was very difficult. Colombia was rocked by serious unrest in mid-2021. Barricades burned on the streets, demonstrators set fire to cars and devastated entire streets. Every visit to the hospital in Cali was therefore a journey into the unknown. “One time when we came back, Linda threw herself on the floor and yelled, ‘Mom, I can’t do this anymore,'” her mother said.
“Colombian Neymar” plays stars from the sky
The striker, who circled her opponent so elegantly and quickly, got up again. In November 2021, she finally received the redeeming news that the cancer had finally been defeated. She had won the toughest duel of her young life. From now on, only the sun will shine for the footballer, who grew up in the small town of Candelaria, almost 30 kilometers from Cali. Strictly speaking, the “Colombian Neymar”, as she is dubbed by the media in her home country in reference to the Brazilian superstar, plays the stars from the sky.
Move to Real Madrid at 18
In 2021 she was the top scorer of the Copa Libertadores. A year later she took part in the U20 World Cup. And at the U17 World Cup months later, the striker led Colombia to second place. This was followed by the move from Deportivo Cali to Real Madrid earlier this year – two days after her 18th birthday.
Goal in World Cup debut
“I’m humbled and grateful that Real made my girlhood dream come true,” Caicedo wrote on her Instagram account, announcing that she wanted to use all her strength and energy for the top Spanish club. In the same post, the striker thanked her parents for paving the way to the top. But where exactly is at the top for such an exceptional talent that her mum says she started playing soccer while still in the womb?
The Colombian could become one of the world’s best players in the coming years – maybe even the best. In her World Cup debut against South Korea, the 18-year-old scored a goal – albeit with active support from the South Korean keeper Young-geul Yoon, who let her not particularly dangerous ball slip through her hands to make it 2-0.
breakdown in training
But there was a moment of shock on Thursday (July 27th, 2023) in training. Video recordings show Caicedo jogging lightly with teammates when she suddenly grabs her chest and lowers herself onto the lawn in a controlled manner. She received medical care but was able to continue the unit afterwards. “She was just tired, she’s fine,” said a spokesman for the Colombian World Cup team.
Caicedo, who has been compared to Neymar but is a big fan of Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, is keen to play against Germany and perhaps celebrate another goal celebration. After her goal against South Korea, she formed her hands into a heart in front of the photographers. A symbolic gesture. Because in football-crazy Colombia, the striker makes the hearts of the fans beat faster. And she herself, who has experienced so much at a young age, is heartfelt.
2023-07-28 23:59:07
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