Linda Caicedo: From Battling Ovarian Cancer to Becoming Colombia’s Star Player

August 7, 2023
By Salma Ahmed

In the last couple of years, we got the chance to witness new soccer players rising to greatness. But they aren’t any soccer players. They are the ones who seem to already deserve to be called superstars. These players are the future of female soccer, and they are the ones we are going to be talking about for the next twenty, and hopefully more, years. One of these players is Colombia’s Linda Caicedo, and what a player she is!

Caicedo made her World Cup debut during the current tournament and proved that she can turn the game’s tide for her team. But behind her outstanding performance and bright future, her journey to where she is now is equally inspiring.

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Battling Cancer

Just like soccer, life is unpredictable. The now 18-year-old was only 15 when she was diagnosed with cancer, and it came at a time when she was just beginning to gain notoriety. At that time, Caicedo had already made her international debut at 14. She won the Liga Aguila Femenina with her team back in 2019, America de Cali.

In March 2020, the Colombian star was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Caicedo had a rough time as she went through different surgeries, including removing a tumor and one of her ovaries. Then she had six months of chemotherapy. Thankfully, Caicedo won her battle against Cancer and went back to her battles on the field. She then played for Deportivo Cali, and in 2021, she won with the club their first title.

Even during her battle with cancer, Caicedo knew what she cared about: football. In an episode of NBC Sports’ podcast, My New Favorite Futbolista, Caicedo’s mother, Herlinda Alegría, said, “Every time we would take Linda to the hospital, she would cry, and she would ask the doctors to please tell her the truth if she would be able to play fútbol again. That’s all she wanted to know.”

Caicedo recovered, and she had a lot to say about her journey. “Recovery was something that took a long time. To readjust, to let go of the fear that maybe your teammates are already at a pace, and you have to train more to be able to reach them,” she also said during the episode. But Caicedo did come back stronger than ever.

Return to the Field

Since Linda Caicedo’s return, she has given a spectacular performance in each tournament she participated in. In the 2022 Copa America Femenina, she won Player of The Tournament and even scored the winning goal against Argentina when the two teams met in the semifinals. However, Caicedo and her teammates didn’t get the chance to lift the cup as they lost 1-0 against Brazil in the final.

The clash with Brazil happened again when Colombia, including Caicedo, faced them again. This time the match took place in Costa Rica, where the Under-20 World Cup took place. Colombia lost against Brazil with the same result but was in the quarterfinals. Again, Caicedo left her mark as she scored two goals in the tournament.

Then we got to see her score three goals at the Under-17 World Cup in India. Colombia then reached the final but lost against Spain 1-0. Caicedo has played in three World Cups in one year. Such a number can only be said about a few players, and Caicedo is one of them.

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She even scored against Germany and South Korea, making her the second-youngest South American player to score; Brazilian legend Marta takes first place.

What’s Next For Caicedo

Caicedo has turned heads for a long time, enough for Real Madrid to sign her! The 18-year-old player joined the Spanish team in February this year. Since she joined, Caicedo has managed to score two goals and make four assists. She will definitely help the performance of Madrid, and they know that.

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Yet, with Caicedo’s constant involvement in tournaments and matches comes the worry of exhaustion. She collapsed during practice before meeting Germany. “What happened was just a symptom of all the stress and physical demands. She is well, and all is back to normal,” a Colombian FA medical staff member said.

During the match against Germany, Caicedo collapsed again in the final minutes before she continued playing. With huge success comes the question of whether Caicedo will be given time to rest soon. With many injuries plaguing women’s soccer, we can only hope that the rising star won’t push herself too hard. There’s no doubt that if Caicedo keeps up with the same performance, she can impact football like many other players. We definitely can’t wait to see what the future has for Caicedo!

Featured image via Getty Images