Mario Antonio Cáceres Gómez (born 17 March 1981) is a Chilean former

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 striker. During his career, he played for

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

on three occasions (being nicknamed "El Petrolero" in his country), but also plied his trade in four countries.

Club career

Born in the capital

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Cáceres made his debut for

in 1998, but spent the following years on loan in the country, to

Ñublense Club Deportivo Ñublense () is a professional Association football, football team based in Chillán, Ñuble Region, Chile. The club was formed in 1916 under the name of Liceo Fútbol Club. They compete in Chile's Chilean Primera División, Primer ...

and Corporación Deportiva Everton de Viña del Mar respectively. Caceres was signed by

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in January 2001, at the same time as compatriot

Rodrigo Tello Rodrigo Álvaro Tello Valenzuela (born 14 October 1979) is a Chilean former professional footballer. He operated mainly as a left midfielder, but could also appear in the middle and as an attacking left back. He spent the better part of his e ...

. Grossly unsettled he returned to Colo-Colo after just a few months, as the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

club refused to activate the buying option it had on the player. At the start of the 2004 season, Cáceres switched for

C.D. Universidad de Concepción Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepción, also known as Universidad de Concepción, are a Chilean Association football, football club based in Concepción, Chile, Concepción, that is a current member of the Primera B de Chile, Primera B. The c ...

, but left the following year to

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

side

Lobos de la BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...

. Before the start of 2005's Apertura, Cáceres moved to another country, transferring to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

team Aris FC, in the country's second level. In 2006, he rejoined Colo-Colo for a third stint, but returned to Greece and its division two the next year, with Pas Giannina FC. Cáceres found some stability in the 2008 summer, going on to play two seasons at Switzerland's

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. It is the oldest football club in continental Europe after Kjøbenhavns Boldklub. The tea ...

. Subsequently, he returned to his country, first joining

San Luis de Quillota San Luis de Quillota is a Chilean professional football club based in Quillota, that competes in the Primera B. The club's home stadium is the Estadio Bicentenario Lucio Fariña. Managers Interim coaches appear in italics. * Frank Powell (19 ...

and going on to represent

Audax Italiano Audax Club Sportivo Italiano () is a Chilean football club based in La Florida playing in the Campeonato Nacional, having has spent most of its history in the top tier of Chilean football. History The club was founded by Italian residents in S ...

, former team Everton and

Deportes Temuco Club de Deportes Temuco is a Chile, Chilean Soccer, football club based in Temuco, Araucanía Region. It currently plays in the Primera B de Chile, Chilean Primera División B, holding home games at the new ''Estadio Municipal Germán Becker''. T ...

International career

Cáceres

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

for

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

at under-20 level, appearing at both the

2001 South American U-20 Championship The 2001 South American U-20 Championship (Sudamericana sub-20) was a football competition contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in Ecuador between 12 January and 4 February 2003, it was the 20th tim ...

and the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...

. He also played for the nation at the 2004

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

Pre-Olympic tournament.

Managerial career

He began his managerial career as an assistant coach in the

youth ranks and coach of

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a professional Chilean football league system, Chilean football club based in Calama, Chile, Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. They compete in the Primera B de Ch ...

at under-13 level. From 2018 to 2022, he worked as the assistant coach of Rodolfo Madrid in Rodelindo Román at minor categories of the Chilean football.

Personal life

His nickname, ''El Petrolero'' (The Oilman), was given by the Chilean play-by-play commentator

Claudio Palma Claudio Rodrigo Palma Barrueto (born 1 June 1969) is a Chilean play-by-play commentator. He has related the most important Chilean football matches for various television and radio networks, including Canal del Fútbol (CDF; 2003–2014/2018� ...

, due to the fact that he had a hard time picking up speed during the matches, like the diesel cars. His brother, Carlos Cáceres Gómez, is a former footballer who played in Indonesia for PS Palembang and current football coach who has worked for clubs such as

Cobresal Club de Deportes Cobresal, or simply Cobresal, is a Chilean football club based in El Salvador, Atacama, a Chilean mining camp, and participates in Campeonato Nacional. The team was founded on 5 May 1979, and the name of the club comes from the ...

(women). In 2015, he worked as a

football commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

for the Chilean TV sports channel Canal del Fútbol.

Honours

Club

; Colo-Colo *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

(3): 2002 Apertura, 2006 Apertura, 2006 Clausura *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

(1): Runner-up

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caceres, Mario 1981 births Living people Footballers from Santiago, Chile Chilean men's footballers 21st-century Chilean sportsmen Chile men's youth international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football forwards Chilean Primera División players Primera B de Chile players Colo-Colo footballers Ñublense footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers C.D. Universidad de Concepción footballers Unión Española footballers San Luis de Quillota footballers Audax Italiano footballers Deportes Temuco footballers Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP B players Sporting CP footballers Liga MX players Lobos BUAP footballers Football League (Greece) players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players FC St. Gallen players Chilean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Greece Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Chilean football managers Chilean association football commentators