Martin Cáceres played only 18 games for Lazio but has had a lengthy career and is one of the most important Uruguayan players.
He was born in Montevideo on April 7, 1987. He started his career with Defensor Sporting and at only 19 years of age he became captain. In February 2007 he signed for Villareal who immediately loaned him to Recreativo de Huelva for the rest of the season plus the next. In June 2008 he signed with Barcelona. He did not play much, 24 games in all three competitions, but contributed to the winning of the treble (Liga, Copa del Re and Champions League).
In 2009 he was loaned to Juventus. Despite a number of injuries, Cáceres played well but at the end of the season the Bianconeri decided not to keep him on and he went back to Spain and signed for Sevilla where he stayed for a season and a half. Upon specific request, in January 2012 he went back to Turin again on loan. With Juventus he won the scudetto which meant, due an agreement with Sevilla, Juventus had to buy him. However his second stint was marred by continuous injuries and he never played a full season. His contract expired in June 2016 and was not renewed. After six months of forced unemployment he finally signed for Southampton in February 2017, but he never managed to fit in and, after having played just one game, the two parties parted ways at the end of May.
During the summer of 2017 he signed a deal with Lazio, well almost. The Biancocelesti had too many non EU players so they could not sign him because he came from a foreign championship. However, if he had played in Italy there would not have been any problem since all non EU players can be exchanged freely if they already play in the Italian Championship. Therefore Cáceres first signed for Verona for 6 months and then, in January 2018, moved to Lazio.
There was a lot of expectation. Cáceres had proved to be very valid in his Juve days and Lazio needed a player who could help out in defence. However, also due to injuries, he was a bit of a disappointment, especially in the first part of the 2018-19 season where he did not play well. In January 2019 he was loaned to Juventus, in time to win his sixth scudetto with the Bianconeri, and in the 2019-2020 season he was sold to Fiorentina.
He did well in Florence and stayed for two seasons. In 2021 he signed for Cagliari but the team was not doing well and he was sold to Levante after just six months. He stayed in Spain for a semester at the end of which he signed for LA Galaxy.
He has played 116 times for Uruguay and participated in the 2010 (third place, he played two games), 2014 (fourth round, he played four matches), 2018 (quarter finals, five caps) and 2022 World Cup (one game, Uruguay did not pass the group stage) as well as the 2011 (winner), 2019 (quarter finals) and 2021 Copa America (again quarter finals).
He played 18 games for Lazio, 10 in Serie A, 2 in Coppa Italia and 6 in Europa League, with one goal against Fiorentina in Serie A.
Lazio career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Jan-Jun 2018 | 10 (1) | 6 (1) | 2 | 2 |
2018-Jan 2019 | 8 | 4 | - | 4 |
Total | 18 (1) | 10 (1) | 2 | 6 |
Sources
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