Moises Caicedo was named in Chelsea’s starting XI for their game against Flamengo at the Club World Cup on Friday.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, though, Caicedo could not help prevent them from falling to a 3-1 defeat to Filipe Luis’ side.
The Blues took the lead early through Pedro Neto, who grabbed his second goal of the tournament, but a horrendous six-minute spell saw Flamengo turn the game completely around and claim all three points.
In that spell, Nicolas Jackson was sent off for a bad challenge, meaning that the 24-year-old will miss Chelsea’s final group stage game.
Latinos in US came to watch Moises Caicedo
Unlike their Club World Cup opener against Los Angeles FC, many turned up for Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat against Flamengo.
As per Chelsea’s official website, there were just over 54,000 spectators at Lincoln Financial Field. And it seems some of those spectators came to watch Caicedo specifically.
According to Brazilian outlet Trivela, Chelsea had Latinos in the US come out to support them, including Ecuadorians, likely because of Caicedo.
The midfielder hails from Ecuador and is easily one of the best South American players in the world right now. Enzo Maresca also has other South Americans in his Chelsea squad, such as Enzo Fernandez and Andrey Santos.
Maresca spoke about Santos after the Flamengo game, promising that the Brazilian will get an opportunity at some point. He has yet to feature at this year’s Club World Cup despite shining while out on loan at Strasbourg last season.
How Moises Caicedo got on against Flamengo
While Caicedo may have been on the losing side, the 23-year-old can be satisfied with his own individual performance against Flamengo.
He won 10 ground duels and completed four tackles. Caicedo also finished the game with a 92% pass success rate.
| Moises Caicedo vs Flamengo | Total |
| Minutes | 90 |
| Touches | 69 |
| Accurate passes | 48/52 (92%) |
| Ground duels (won) | 12 (10) |
| Tackles | 4 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
Of course, it was not enough to prevent Chelsea from losing, but it was another bright display from the former Brighton & Hove Albion man.
