MARBELLA, Spain – Brad Friedel has made clear his desire to “add goals” in 2019 after his New England Revolution squad finished 15th in attacking output last year (49 goals), and offseason signing Juan Fernando Caicedo could play a significant role in achieving that objective.
The 29-year-old forward arrived in Foxborough on loan (with a purchase option) from Colombian club Independiente Medellín having scored 89 goals in just under 300 professional appearances across all competitions, and now the Revs are hoping that scoring touch will translate to MLS.
Caicedo’s first opportunity to prove himself in a match situation will arrive on Thursday morning when the Revs will play Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua FC (5 a.m. ET) to kick off their preseason slate, but early returns on the training ground have already proven positive.
“On the field, he’s a hardworking player, a good finisher,” said Diego Fagundez. “[On Sunday] I saw a little bit of that in him. I’m looking forward to playing with him. We just have to get him adapted to our system, but I think he’ll adapt quick, so I’m definitely looking forward to him doing well this year.”
It’s been a seamless transition into the Revolution setup for Caicedo, who’s had a permanent smile on his face since preseason camp opened last week. Although his English is lacking at the moment, Caicedo is surrounded by no less than eight teammates (and several coaches) who speak Spanish, making for a welcoming environment.
Oh, and the Revs are also currently in Marbella, Spain, for a two-week training camp.
“We have a lot of Spanish-speaking players – probably more Spanish-speaking now than English-speaking,” Friedel said with a laugh. “He’s a bubbly character and I think all the boys have taken to him very well. He’s trying to get ingrained in the culture as quickly as possible, so it’s good.”
“Once you click to Spanish and he’s comfortable talking to you, he’ll talk about anything,” said Fagundez. “We talk about soccer, we talk about what it’s like to be on the team, how it’s been. He just wants to know everything.”
Andrew Farrell similarly described Caicedo as a hardworking player whose amiable personality has made him instantly popular with his teammates, and he’ll be popular with Revolution supporters, as well, should he find the back of the net with regularity in MLS.
“He’ll add another attacking dimension,” Friedel said of the 5-foot-11 striker. “We have some very good attacking players in the team and he’s going to be another one that is hopefully going to get a lot of chances and score a lot of goals for us.”
