Kareem Joseph (born 12 April 1983) is a Trinidadian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Caledonia AIA Morvant Caledonia United (formerly known as Caledonia AIA) is a professional football team in Trinidad and Tobago's top-level TT Pro League. It is based in Morvant; its home stadium is Hasely Crawford Stadium. History The Caledonia AIA Football ...

in the

TT Pro League The TT Premier Football League (formerly known as the TT Pro League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad an ...

. He scored 48 league goals during his entire career, all with Caledonia AIA.

Early life

Joseph was born in

Morvant Morvant (pronounced, in the local English dialect, "mor-vuh") is a community in Trinidad and Tobago located east of Port of Spain in the region of San Juan-Laventille. Location Morvant is located in the southern foothills of the Northern Range of ...

, Trinidad and Tobago and attended Malick Secondary School in Trinidad along with future

team-mate

Devorn Jorsling Devorn Jorsling (born 27 December 1983 in Morvant) is a Trinidadian footballer who plays for Defence Force. Club career Early career Jorsling played extensively in the TT Pro League, initially with W Connection and Caledonia AIA, but most pr ...

. Joseph featured predominantly as one of a handful of

right-wingers Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property, r ...

that provided service to standout striker Jorsling. During his school days, Joseph was given the nickname ''Tiny'' due to his small physique.

Career

Caledonia AIA

Joseph began his professional career with

of the

, having signed with his hometown club in 2000. During his early years, Joseph was crowded out upfront and did not particularly distinguish himself as a

. After being reassigned to

, Joseph earned a reputation for his tactical awareness, composure, and fitness. Moreover, Joseph is also known for his service as a penalty taker and has regularly tallied goals from the penalty spot each season. Joseph had a break-out year during the 2006 season as he became a regular starter and provided seven goals for Caledonia AIA. Joseph followed with an additional two league goals in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. He also featured in Caledonia AIA's cup successes in 2008 having scored eight goals in all competitions to lead his club to their first

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

and

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

titles. He followed with eight additional goals throughout the

2009 TT Pro League The 2009 TT Pro League season (known as the ''Digicel Pro League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the TT Pro League, the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. ...

competition calendar. Joseph scored a pair of goals in the 2011 First Citizens Cup final to give Caledonia AIA their first league cup in club history with a 2–1 victory over T&TEC. He first equalised the match in the first half with a rocket from outside right of the penalty area before scoring a penalty in the 65th minute. In the

2012 CFU Club Championship The 2012 CFU Club Champions’ Cup was the 14th edition of the CFU Club Championship, the annual international club football competition in the Caribbean region, held amongst clubs whose football associations are affiliated with the Caribbean Foot ...

, Joseph was a starter in the Caledonia AIA defence that recorded three

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

en route to winning the

CFU Club Championship The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). ...

and securing the club's first qualification into the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

. During the

2012–13 Champions League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Joseph recorded the lone goal from a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

for Caledonia AIA in a 3–1 defeat to

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

in their first Group 4 match. On 30 August 2012, Joseph scored his second goal of the competition in the 66th minute against Seattle Sounders. The match ended again in a 3–1 loss to the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

team in

Ato Boldon Stadium The Ato Boldon Stadium is an athletics and football stadium located in Balmain, Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. It is currently the home ground of Central and Club Sando. History The stadium was constructed for the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championshi ...

Couva Couva is a town in west-central Trinidad, south of Port of Spain and Chaguanas and north of San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, San Fernando and Point Fortin. It is the capital and main urban centre of Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo, and the Greate ...

. Joseph finished the competition with appearances in each of Caledonia AIA's four matches having scored two goals.

Personal life

Joseph is married to women's national team footballer Tasha St. Louis and the pair have a seven-year-old daughter Kailah. He is also the older brother of Caledonia AIA teammate Sherron Joseph and cousin of

Canadian soccer In Canada, soccer is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate; according to Canada Soccer, there are nearly 1 million registered players in Canada. Professional soccer in Canada is played in the Canadian Premier League, the Northe ...

player

Atiba Hutchinson Atiba Hutchinson (born 8 February 1983) is a former Canadian professional Association football, soccer player. Considered an iconic figure of North American soccer and a Canada soccer legend, with 105 international appearances in the span of 20 ...

References

External links