Moises Caicedo lifted his first trophy, a golden plastic cup, among the tightly packed little houses of a working-class neighbourhood in Ecuador. This summer, he is heading to his second World Cup.
The tiny prize he won was lent by a neighbour to give a group of children a taste of victory.
A photograph from those childhood tournaments remains a treasured possession of Jeremy Cedeno, a childhood friend of the Chelsea defensive midfielder who, at the age of 24, will be playing in his second World Cup from 11 June.
It shows Caicedo kneeling, surrounded by five young teammates, beaming, his hands clutching the small winners' cup from a tournament in the working-class neighbourhood of Mujer Trabajadora, in the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas in central Ecuador.
"There wasn't even a referee," Cedeno told AFP. "Oh my, the tackles were fierce!"
Caicedo wore that same smile on his face as he lifted the Club World Cup trophy with the Blues in the United States in July 2025. He had tied the Ecuadorian flag around his waist.
"We're incredibly proud," said Cedeno, a 24-year-old paramedic, "because he's from here, from the neighbourhood, where he used to play barefoot."
Caicedo's transfer from Brighton to Chelsea, for a reported 115 million pounds, set a record for English football in 2023. He appeared 50 times for Chelsea this season, scoring five goals.
Caicedo, the youngest of 10 children, used to sell flowers in a cemetery to help his family. He is the most expensive player in the Ecuadorian national team, for whom he made his debut aged 18 and has already racked up 60 caps, scoring three goals.
In his hometown of Santo Domingo, Caicedo's face appears on murals, shirts and even on the shin guards of children who dream of following in his footsteps, such as nine-year-old Julian Hidalgo.
The young boy, who says he admires Caicedo's intelligence and speed, is coached by the same trainer, Ivan Guerra.
"We remind them that Caicedo started out at this football school, that the pitch was mud, stones and sand, sometimes with shards of glass," Guerra, 58, told AFP. "We teach the kids to work hard if they want to make their dreams come true."
'SENSE OF BELONGING'
He recalls seeing Caicedo play on the street with friends, the financial struggles in organising matches, and how Caicedo helped him park cars in the city's party district to earn a few coins for the club.
Darwin Castillo coached Caicedo as a teenager at the Jaipadida club. He remembers a shy boy, in some ways "just another kid," but who already stood out for his fierce determination and exceptional physique.
"Moises's discipline comes from his upbringing at home... a very poor family who prayed before eating," he says.
Caiceido last year was awarded a medal for sporting merit by the Ecuadorian National Assembly.
"Ever since I was a little boy, I've always wanted to become a professional footballer" while remaining "the same humble lad who doesn't forget where he comes from," he said at the presentation.
Castillo said the player has kept his word.
He has "a sense of belonging and is still making up for or doing things he could not do during his childhood" due to a lack of money, he explains.
Caicedo spends his holidays in Ecuador where he goes to the beach, rides the Ferris wheel and kicks a ball around with his former coaches and friends, becoming for a moment, that little boy who used to lift plastic trophies.
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