Samuel Caballero
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jorge Samuel Caballero Álvarez | ||
Date of birth | 24 December 1974 | ||
Place of birth | Puerto Lempira, Honduras | ||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1991–1994 | Deportivo Melgar | ||
1994–2001 | Olimpia | 66 | (11) |
2001–2004 | Udinese | 25 | (2) |
2004 | Salernitana | 0 | (0) |
2004 | Defensor | 0 | (0) |
2005 | Chicago Fire | 17 | (1) |
2006–2010 | Changchun Yatai | 110 | (11) |
2011 | Necaxa | 0 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2008 | Honduras U-23 | 3 | (0) |
1998–2009 | Honduras | 71 | (11) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of end of 2010 season ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2009-03-28 |
Jorge Samuel Caballero Álvarez (Latin American Spanish: [saˈmwel kaβaˈʝeɾo]; born 24 December 1974) is a retired Honduran football defender.
He currently is the president of Honduran national league club Deportes Savio.
Club career
[edit]Caballero began his career with hometown club Deportivo Melgar. He then joined Olimpia, playing with the team from 1996 until transferring overseas in 2001. The central defender moved to Serie A to play for Udinese,[1] where his second season was hampered by a long knee injury lay-off. He would remain in Udine until moving to Salernitana in 2004. He only played in 2 cup games for them and then signed for Nacional in Uruguay,[2] but the move did not materialise since Nacional had too many foreigners in their squad, so he joined Defensor Sporting instead.[3] In Uruguay he was unlucky with injuries again.[4]
At the start of 2005, he moved to Major League Soccer and the Chicago Fire.[5] Caballero had a disappointing 2005 with the club, and was released. He spent the 2006 preseason with the Colorado Rapids.
China
[edit]Caballero had a lengthy spell with Chinese side Changchun Yatai and played in the 2008 AFC Champions League with them.[6] In the 2008-2009 Winter Market it was reported that two teams from Honduras, Marathon and Olimpia, were interested in the signing of Samuel Caballero after he publicly stated his desire to return to Honduras in order to be close to family and return to the National Team. However, the player still had a contract with the Chinese Club Changchun Yatai and stated that if he did not receive any offers he would return to the club and complete his contract.
Career end controversy
[edit]In summer 2011 he finally returned to Honduras to sign with Necaxa[7] and declared the team would be his final before retiring.[8] However, he would never play for the club since he was still contracted to Changchun Yatai[9] and they did not give him permission to play for Necaxa.[10]
International career
[edit]Caballero has played an important part at the national team setup for over 10 years, mostly playing alongside other Honduran greats like Amado Guevara, Julio César de León and Carlos Pavón. He made his debut for Honduras in a January 1998 friendly match against Costa Rica and has earned a total of 71 caps, scoring 11 goals. He has represented his country in 22 FIFA World Cup qualification matches[11] and played at the 1999 UNCAF Nations Cup[12] as well as at the 1998,[13] 2000,[14] 2005[15] and 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cups.[16] Also, he played at the 2001 Copa América.[17] and was one of three of Honduras' over-age players at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
His final international was a March 2009 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Trinidad & Tobago.
International goals
[edit]- Scores and results list Honduras' goal tally first.
Retirement
[edit]In October 2011, Caballero was named president of Deportes Savio.[18]
Honours
[edit]C.D. Olimpia
Nacional
Changchun Yatai
- Chinese Super League: Champion 2007
- Chinese Super League: Runner-Up 2009
- Chinese Super League: Footballer of the Year (MVP)
Individual
- CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2005
- CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament team (Honorable Mention): 2007
References
[edit]- ^ JORGE SAMUEL CABALLERO – Gazzetta
- ^ Es un Caballero que vino a jugar fuerte – El País (in Spanish)
- ^ Hondureño Caballero fichó por el Defensor de Montevideo – Nacion (in Spanish)
- ^ "No sé qué hacer, solamente Dios sabe dónde terminaré" – El País (in Spanish)
- ^ Fire Signs Honduran National Team Standout Samuel Caballero – OurSportsCentral
- ^ AFC Champions League 2008 START LIST – AFC
- ^ Samuel Caballero, cerca de firmar con Necaxa Archived 17 February 2013 at archive.today – La Prensa (in Spanish)
- ^ “Me retiraré en Necaxa”: Samuel Caballero Archived 17 February 2013 at archive.today – El Heraldo (in Spanish)
- ^ Necaxa descarta a Samuel Caballero Archived 17 February 2013 at archive.today – Diez (in Spanish)
- ^ Según Necaxa, Samuel no es “Caballero” Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine – La Tribuna (in Spanish)
- ^ Samuel Caballero – FIFA competition record (archived)
- ^ UNCAF Tournament 1999 – RSSSF
- ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1998 – Full Details – RSSSF
- ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2000 – Full Details – RSSSF
- ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 – Full Details – RSSSF
- ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2007 – Full Details – RSSSF
- ^ Copa América 2001 – RSSSF
- ^ Samuel Caballero, nuevo presidente del Savio Archived 21 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Tiempo (in Spanish)
External links
[edit]- Samuel Caballero at National-Football-Teams.com
- Caballero profile – FIFA
- Samuel Caballero at Major League Soccer
- Stats – Gazzetta
- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from Puerto Lempira
- Men's association football defenders
- Honduran men's footballers
- Honduras men's international footballers
- 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- 2001 Copa América players
- 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers for Honduras
- C.D. Olimpia players
- Udinese Calcio players
- US Salernitana 1919 players
- Defensor Sporting players
- Chicago Fire FC players
- Changchun Yatai F.C. players
- Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players
- Serie A players
- Uruguayan Primera División players
- Major League Soccer players
- Honduran expatriate men's footballers
- Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Honduran expatriate sportspeople in China
- Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
- Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay
- Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
- Expatriate men's footballers in China
- Chinese Super League players