Manuel Ugarte and Moises Caicedo exchanged shirts after Ecuador defeated Uruguay 2-1 in the second Round of the World Cup Qualifiers.
Following Ecuador’s 2-1 victory over Uruguay in a crucial World Cup qualifying match, Manuel Ugarte has sent Moises Caicedo a one-word message hailing the impact of the former Brighton man.
The 22-year-old midfielder was extensively linked with a summer transfer to Chelsea, but he decided to join Paris Saint-Germain instead after the French club made a much more alluring offer.
Thereafter, the Blues quickly turned their attention to Caicedo, who was signed from Brighton for a British-record fee, before Mauricio Pochettino further bolstered his squad with the additions of Lesley Ugochukwu and Romeo Lavia.
“@moises_caicedo55 Crack *clapping emoji*,” the PSG star captioned a photo of Caicedo’s Ecuador match shirt on his Instagram story.
Reposting the message on his page, the Caicedo wished Ugarte all the best and wrote: “Todo lo mejor crack *clapping, handshake and fire emoji*.”
Despite the friendly social media exchanges between Chelsea and PSG players, it was Kendry Paez who stole the headlines for his performance against Uruguay.
Speaking on ESPN, a South American football expert Tim Vickery claimed it was an ‘absolute joy’ to watch the 16-year-old, who will join the west Londoners in two years.
“Paez operated on the right of a midfield trio. Left-footed but able to go either way, there was a swagger and a style about his football, a casual ease of accepting responsibility to set up the play, that was a joy to watch.
“He did not last the entire game — that would have been too much to expect — but by the time he left the match, with some 20 minutes to go, he had laid on the winning goal. Caicedo started to vary the repertoire.”
“He worked some short corners, and from one of them he slipped Paez, his future Chelsea teammate, to the bye-line. Paez played in a low cross and there was Torres once more, this time stretching out a leg to win the game.”
