Liberato Cacace

Liberato Gianpaolo Cacace (/kəˈkɑːtʃi/ kə-KAH-chee;[2] born 27 September 2000) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Serie A club Empoli and the New Zealand national team.[3]

Liberato Cacace
Personal information
Full name Liberato Gianpaolo Cacace[1]
Date of birth (2000-09-27) 27 September 2000
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Empoli
Number 13
Youth career
2006–2015 Island Bay United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Wellington Phoenix Reserves 23 (0)
2018–2020 Wellington Phoenix 58 (4)
2020–2022 Sint-Truiden 50 (0)
2022 → Empoli (loan) 10 (0)
2022– Empoli 14 (0)
International career‡
2017 New Zealand U17 8 (1)
2019 New Zealand U20 3 (0)
2019– New Zealand U23 2 (1)
2018– New Zealand 15 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 August 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2023

Club career

Island Bay

As a youth, Cacace played for Island Bay United[4] and was also a representative player of Capital Football for two years in their 1999 squad.[5] He was chosen by former Wellington Phoenix and All Whites coach Ricki Herbert to be part of his junior elite academy.[5]

Cacace also played for his school team at St Patrick's College in Wellington, alongside South Sudan international Manyumow Achol. Cacace helped his college team win the Wellington Premier Youth football league, scoring in the 2–1 final against Hutt International Boys' School.[6]

Wellington Phoenix Reserves

Cacace started playing for the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in the New Zealand Football Championship in the 2016–17 season, making eight appearances, including four starts.[7]

During the winter season, Cacace played with Wellington Phoenix feeder club Wellington United in the local Central League.[8]

Wellington Phoenix

On 2 February 2018, Cacace made his debut for the senior side, coming on as a substitute in a 4–0 defeat against Sydney FC in the A-League.[9][10] Following the end of the 2017–18 A-League season, and having made seven appearances for the club, Cacace signed a three-year professional contract with Wellington Phoenix.[11]

In the 2018–19 season, following the departure of Scott Galloway and injury to Tom Doyle, Cacace became the first-choice left-back under new manager Mark Rudan, one month after his 18th birthday.[12] Cacace scored his maiden A-League goal against Central Coast Mariners in an 8-2 victory on 9 March 2019, becoming the club's youngest ever goalscorer at 18 years and 163 days.[13] After playing more minutes than any other Wellington Phoenix player that season, Cacace won the club's Young Player of the Year award ahead of fellow starter Sarpreet Singh.[14]

The following season, Cacace established himself as one of Wellington's most important players, with captain Steven Taylor calling him "the best left-back in the league without a shadow of a doubt".[15] On 8 March 2020, Cacace played his 50th game for Wellington Phoenix against Central Coast Mariners, the youngest player in the club's history to do so.[16]

Sint-Truiden

After a stellar season with the Wellington Phoenix,[17] Cacace signed a three year contract with Sint-Truiden for a suspected transfer fee of around €1.2 million.[18]

Empoli

On 31 January 2022, Cacace joined Italian Serie A club Empoli on loan, with a conditional obligation to buy.[19] The conditions were fulfilled and Empoli purchased the rights on 17 June 2022.[20]

International career

Cacace was part of the New Zealand U-17 team that won the 2017 OFC U-17 Championship, where he scored one goal. This meant that the team qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India. Cacace then played at the FIFA U-17 World Cup,[21] making his World Cup debut in the 1–1 draw with Turkey,[22] before starting again in a 4–2 loss to Paraguay[23] and a 3–1 loss to Mali.[24]

Cacace was selected to join the All Whites squad in the 2018 Intercontinental Cup in June 2018.[25] He made his All Whites debut in Mumbai on 5 June 2018, against Chinese Taipei, in a 1–0 victory.[26]

Cacace scored the opening goal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in New Zealand's 3–2 loss to Honduras.[27]

Cacace scored against Tahiti in a 1–0 win in the semi-finals of the OFC FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[28]

Personal life

Cacace was born in Wellington to an Italian father and a New Zealand mother of Italian descent. His father Antonio arrived in the country in 1992 from Massa Lubrense, a small commune in Naples, and operates La Bella Italia, an Italian restaurant located in Petone.[29][30] He attended St Patrick's College.[31]

Cacace supports his father's hometown team, Napoli.[32]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 29 July 2021[7]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wellington Phoenix Reserves 2016–17 New Zealand Football Championship 80—80
2017–18 13 0 — 13 0
2018–19 2 0 — 2 0
Total 23 0 0 0 0 0
Wellington Phoenix 2017–18 A-League 7 0 —7 0
2018–19 26 1 1 0 27 1
2019–20 25 3 1 0 26 3
Total 58 0 2 0 98 4
Sint-Truiden 2020–21 Belgian First Division A 27 0 1 0 28 0
Career total 108 4 3 0 111 4

International
As of matches played 28 March 2022[7]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
New Zealand 2018 3 0
2019 1 0
2020 0 0
2021 5 1
Total 9 1
Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cacace goal.
List of international goals scored by Liberato Cacace
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
127 March 2022Al-Arabi Stadium, Doha, Qatar Tahiti1–01–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

New Zealand U17

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: New Zealand" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  2. New Zealand Football (8 November 2021). Ask The Squad | Liberato Cacace & Elijah Just. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2022 – via YouTube.
  3. "21st-century sports stars: Five Kiwis just getting started on the international stage". Stuff. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  4. "Island Bay United Association Football Club". Facebook. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  5. "Club Garibaldi News" (PDF). Club Garibaldi. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  6. Hyslop, Liam (29 August 2017). "St Pat's Town rejoice in unexpected football triumph". Stuff. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  7. Liberato Cacace at Soccerway
  8. Singh, Anendra (23 April 2017). "Football: Rovers succumb heavily against Wellington United in Napier". Hawkes Bay Today. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  9. Rollo, Phillip (2 February 2018). "Sydney FC swat Wellington aside as Phoenix punished for costly mistakes". Stuff.
  10. "Wellington Phoenix Squad: Round 20 v Sydney FC". Wellington Phoenix. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  11. "Wellington Phoenix bring back Andrew Durante and Liberato Cacace for coming season". Stuff. 18 May 2018.
  12. "Liberato Cacace's contract leaves Wellington Phoenix in a tricky situation". Stuff.
  13. Rollo, Phillip (9 March 2019). "Wellington Phoenix climb into top-four after thumping Central Coast Mariners 8-2". Stuff.
  14. "Wellington Phoenix Players Recognised At New Zealand Football Awards 2019". Wellington Phoenix. 28 July 2019.
  15. "Wellington Phoenix rising star Liberato Cacace has Premier League potential". Stuff.
  16. "Young star Liberato Cacace to play milestone 50th A-League game for Wellington Phoenix". Stuff.
  17. Rollo, Phillip (27 August 2020). "Wellington Phoenix rising star Liberato Cacace joins Belgian club Sint-Truiden". Stuff.
  18. "STVV legt ruim miljoen euro neer voor Nieuw-Zeelander - Khammas van Genk naar W.-Beveren - Plzen denkt aan Krmencik". Het Laatste Nieuws. 28 August 2020.
  19. "Liberato Cacace è dell'Empoli" (Press release) (in Italian). Empoli. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  20. "Esercitato il riscatto per Liberato Cacace e Petar Stojanovic" (in Italian). Empoli. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  21. "New Zealand U-17 coach Danny Hay has delivered a clear message to his squad ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India". New Zealand Football. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  22. "New Zealand v Turkey Match Report". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  23. "New Zealand v Paraguay Match Report". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  24. "New Zealand v Mali Match Report". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  25. Voerman, Andrew (27 May 2018). "Nothing changes for schoolboy footballer Liberato Cacace despite his rapid rise". Stuff. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  26. "Football: All Whites win scrappy encounter over Chinese Taipei". The New Zealand Herald. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  27. Voerman, Andrew (25 July 2021). "Defensive howler costs OlyWhites in loss to Honduras at Tokyo Olympics". Stuff.
  28. "All Whites reach Oceania Qualifiers final". www.nzfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  29. Rollo, Phillip (4 February 2018). "Wellington boy Liberato Cacace makes Phoenix debut at 17". Stuff. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  30. Williams, Shirley; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Antonio Cacace". teara.govt.nz.
  31. Rollo, Phillip (25 April 2018). "Back to school for Wellington Phoenix teenager Liberato Cacace". Stuff. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  32. michael.burgess@nzherald.co.nz @mikeburgess99, Michael Burgess Sports writer for NZME (27 April 2019). "Football: Wellington Phoenix A-League defender Liberato Cacace closes in on lofty goal" – via www.nzherald.co.nz.
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