From the age of six, Willy Caballero realised he liked to be the player giving out the instructions to those around him. It was one of the reasons why he became a goalkeeper.
He had joined a local team in Santa Elena, his home city in northern Argentina, and had initially been an outfield player but when his team-mates decided they did not want to play in goal, Caballero went between the posts. After that, they began to win.
“I started to enjoy giving out orders, commenting on the defenders and correcting people,” Caballero said in a 2013 interview with Nuevo Futbol, a Spanish-language sports website. “ It stuck, so at the age of six I became a keeper.”
On Monday night, the now 42-year-old Caballero will be the man on the touchline, passing out the instructions and encouragement to Leicester City’s players as they take on fellow promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town in the Championship.
With Enzo Maresca serving a one-game suspension up in the King Power Stadium stands for picking up three yellow cards this season, it falls on assistant manager Caballero to step forward into the technical area.
Caballero’s early experiences have provided grounding and perspective and strengthened his leadership skills. He settled down with wife Lucia and started a family aged 21 before moved…
