Former Juventus Defender Martin Caceres Looking To Take His Chance At Lazio

Former Juventus Defender Martin Caceres Looking To Take His Chance At Lazio
14:02, 18 Jan 2018

Perhaps in-keeping with the rest of his career, Martin Caceres joined Lazio this week in a move that was largely ignored by the media both in Italy and abroad. Despite a long list of accomplishments, the 30-year-old defender has never truly received attention for his performances or impact upon the many teams he has represented. Spending time with Sevilla, Barcelona and Villarreal before moving to Italy with Juventus, the Montevideo native has a medal haul to rival most players, yet his status as a backup for the majority of those sides sees his contributions go unnoticed by a wider audience.

It must be said that while he is attributed with winning the Copa del Rey, two Coppa Italia triumphs, a Champions League victory plus a runner’s up place in both that latter competition and the English League Cup, he played no part in any of those six finals. He also claimed a La Liga victory with Barca and five Serie A titles with Juve, yet made a combined total of just 46 starts in those six league campaigns.

While his status as a perennial reserve is at odds with his fine international career – 75 caps including a Copa America victory in 2011 and a fourth-place finish at the 2010 World Cup – there have been many mitigating circumstances holding him back. He arrived for his single season at Camp Nou in the summer of 2008 after the Catalan giants paid €16.5 million for him, many believing he could provide depth to their star-studded defence. Caceres was and is a versatile player, able to play in either full-back role or in a central position, but he was deemed to young and inexperienced by Pep Guardiola.

That situation was made worse by the plethora of talent available to the current Manchester City boss, who had Dani Alves, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué and Éric Abidal as his regular starters, with Rafael Márquez and Sylvinho waiting on the bench. Yaya Toure featured in many games as a central defender too, limiting chances for Caceres to earn playing time and prompting a loan move to Juventus just twelve months later.

The Bianconeri were struggling and finished seventh, the club baulking at the prospect of paying €11 million to make the deal permanent. So in the summer of 2010 he changed clubs once again, spending 18 months with Sevilla before rejoining the Old Lady. Yet Antonio Conte had already rebuilt their defence, now boasting the BBC backline of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini which would become irreplaceable in front of Gigi Buffon’s goal.

While those excellent defenders retained their places and form just like Barca’s had, it seemed Caceres was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. The same could also be said of a car crash he was involved in back in March 2013, his Porsche colliding with another vehicle and leaving him with some serious looking cuts and bruises.

Eventually, Conte would move on and Max Allegri arrived, switching to a four-man defence that was expected to open up more chances for Careers to play. He was handed such an opportunity in surprising circumstances early in the 2015/16 campaign when Stephan Lichtsteiner was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.

Ruled out immediately for at least a month, the absence of the Swiss star meant that Juve – with no other recognised right-back in the squad – would be forced to play the Uruguay international for an extended spell. Yet less than 24 hours after his team-mate’s unfortunate news, Caceres was involved in another crash and this time it was unquestionably his own fault. He was found to be over the drink-drive limit after hitting a bus stop and two parked cars with his Ferrari, resulting in his license being taken away and leaving the Old Lady less than impressed.

“The conduct of Martin Caceres on the night of 28 September represents gross violation of his responsibilities as a Juventus player, as well as damaging the image of the club,” read a statement on the club’s official website. “Juventus will thus taken disciplinary action against the player in the form of a fine and his temporary suspension from the first team.” It would be January before Allegri saw fit to play him again, and the following month he would rupture his Achilles tendon. Director General Beppe Marotta announced that his contract would not be extended, meaning the game against Genoa where he suffered the injury would be his final outing for the Bianconeri.

A combination of concerns over his fitness and professionalism – magnified after a failed medical in Turkey – meant that it would be February 2017 before another club gave him a chance as Southampton signed him until the end of the season. He would make just one appearance before departing for Hellas Verona, where he slowly began to rebuild the damage he had inflicted upon his own reputation.

Caceres has looked much improved this term for the Gialloblu, scoring three goals – including the stunner against Juve shown above – in his fourteen starts for the relegation-threatened club. He has featured all across the backline, filling in wherever he is needed and averaging 1.2 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 2.7 clearances per 90 minutes according to WhoScored.com. That has prompted Lazio to make their move, much to his delight as the Rome-based side sit in fourth place with Champions League football a genuine possibility.

“Maybe destiny was calling,” Caceres admitted at a press conference to announce the move. “I scored my first Serie A goal against Lazio. I’m happy to be here and to discover this team. I thank Verona for the past six months, I rediscovered myself after the adventure in England, played a lot of matches and scored a few goals. Now I hope to get started here soon.”

Fans of Juventus will attest to the quality he always promised to show, and if he can help Lazio qualify for Europe’s elite competition, then perhaps Martin Caceres might finally make people pay attention. 

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