Samuel Caballero

Jorge Samuel Caballero Álvarez (American Spanish: [saˈmwel kaβaˈʝeɾo]; born 24 December 1974 in Puerto Lempira, Gracias a Dios department, Honduras) is a retired Honduran football defender.

Samuel Caballero
Personal information
Full name Jorge Samuel Caballero Álvarez
Date of birth (1974-12-24) 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)
National team‡
2008 Honduras U-23 3 (0)
1998–2009 Honduras 71 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of end of 2010 season
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2009-03-28
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Caballero and the second or maternal family name is Álvarez.

He currently is the president of Honduran national league club Deportes Savio.

Club career

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

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

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

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
Scores and results list Honduras' goal tally first.
N.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.19 March 1999Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Belize1–05-11999 UNCAF Nations Cup
2.16 December 1999Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras Zambia2–07-1Friendly match
3.16 December 1999Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras Zambia7–17-1Friendly match
4.14 February 2000Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States Jamaica2–02–02000 CONCACAF Gold Cup
5.3 June 2000Estadio Francisco Morazán, San Pedro Sula, Honduras Haiti4–04–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.17 June 2000Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti Haiti1–03–12002 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.16 July 2000Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador El Salvador1–15–22002 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.2 September 2000Estadio Francisco Morazán, San Pedro Sula, Honduras El Salvador5–05-02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.15 November 2000Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines6–07–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
10.25 April 2001National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica Jamaica2–02-02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.12 July 2005Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States Panama1–01-02005 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Retirement

In October 2012, Caballero was named president of Deportes Savio.[18]

Honours

C.D. Olimpia

Nacional

Changchun Yatai

References
  1. JORGE SAMUEL CABALLERO - Gazzetta
  2. Es un Caballero que vino a jugar fuerte - El País (in Spanish)
  3. Hondureño Caballero fichó por el Defensor de Montevideo - Nacion (in Spanish)
  4. "No sé qué hacer, solamente Dios sabe dónde terminaré" - El País (in Spanish)
  5. Fire Signs Honduran National Team Standout Samuel Caballero - OurSportsCentral
  6. AFC Champions League 2008 START LIST - AFC
  7. Samuel Caballero, cerca de firmar con Necaxa Archived 17 February 2013 at Archive.today - La Prensa (in Spanish)
  8. “Me retiraré en Necaxa”: Samuel Caballero Archived 17 February 2013 at Archive.today - El Heraldo (in Spanish)
  9. Necaxa descarta a Samuel Caballero Archived 17 February 2013 at Archive.today - Diez (in Spanish)
  10. Según Necaxa, Samuel no es “Caballero” Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine - La Tribuna (in Spanish)
  11. Samuel Caballero – FIFA competition record
  12. UNCAF Tournament 1999 - RSSSF
  13. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1998 - Full Details - RSSSF
  14. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2000 - Full Details - RSSSF
  15. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 - Full Details - RSSSF
  16. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2007 - Full Details - RSSSF
  17. Copa América 2001 - RSSSF
  18. Samuel Caballero, nuevo presidente del Savio Archived 21 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine - Tiempo (in Spanish)
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