Ecuadorean children chase World Cup dreams at Caicedo’s football schools

QUITO: Children of all ages rush ‌on to a soccer field in southern Quito to train, inspired by the achievements of their biggest role model, Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo, and driven by the dream of one day playing in a World Cup like their idol.
The children, aged between five and 16, have been training at one of Caicedo’s and his family’s ‘Nino Moi 23’ academies in the dangerous neighborhood of Guamani since last year.

The project aims to steer the children away from drugs and crime, and to have a positive social impact on the country’s most vulnerable communities.
The Ecuadorean government has acknowledged cases of criminal gangs recruiting children and teenagers driven by extreme ‌poverty, lack of ‌access to education and extracurricular activities, lack of job ‌opportunities ⁠and their families’ ⁠geographical location.
The Nino Moi 23 academies, founded by Caicedo, now number 38 across Ecuador, including in the Galapagos Islands, offering children a place to train and develop through football.
“Moises’s wish is for the children to have the opportunity to play football, to see sport as a profession, a way of life for them and their families,” said Galo Rodriguez, sporting director of the academies.
“He wants to give the ⁠children that space and the tools to develop in ‌a better environment.”
Caicedo, a key figure for Ecuador, ‌will soon play in his second World Cup, having begun his career on a ‌dirt pitch in a humble neighborhood of Santo Domingo.
The 24-year-old has spoken of ‌the bitter moments he experienced during his childhood, caused by financial hardship and the difficulties he faced in accessing a football academy for training.
“The best footballers come from humble backgrounds,” Marcos Caicedo,