Moises Caicedo has been given a hero’s welcome back to his hometown in Ecuador.

And he reportedly told his admirers he has no thoughts of leaving Albion.

Caicedo is back in Santo Domingo, about 100 miles west of Quito, during a break after elimination from the World Cup.

He was given a civic reception and delivered a speech to fans and media.

He then joined in a game of football on the pitch where he played as a kid – and scored a goal to follow his equaliser against Senegal in Qatar.

Caicedo was inconsolable after Ecuador went out of the World Cup in defeat by Senegal.

He has warned those from his city - population about 5,000 - who want to emulate him that they will have tough times along the way.

La Hora, the city’s newspaper, reported: “He will continue in his current team Brighton and Hove Albion of the Premier League.

“He indicated he has not thought about going anywhere else.”

Caicedo is known back home as ‘El Niño Moi’ – the boy Moi.

He told the gathered throng: “I want you to know I feel very happy to be from Santo Domingo, above all.

“To have lots of people who love me.

“The truth is from a young age I aways dreamed that many people would follow in my footsteps.

“Now every night when I go to sleep, I can do so happy because I’m achieving that.

“I see a lot of kids are following my example.

“All I say to them is that they keep pushing hard because there will be difficult times, but don’t let anyone get in the way of your dreams.

“To get where I am now I suffered a lot, I cried, but thanks to my family and my effort and my education, I have done a lot of things, even though I’m young.

“I am sure I will keep achieving things.

“Our city deserves the best and I’m going to help us get that.”

 

La Hora noted that Caicedo’s presence was “taken advantage of by candidates seeking to strengthen their image in the player’s company.”

Amid the welcoming ceremony, mayor Wilson Erazo announced a new sports centre in the city will be named after Caicedo.

One of the young players present told the Albion man he was “an example to follow” for the next generation.

He added: “We have dreams of progressing and reaching targets like signing for a European team, national team, whatever it may be.

“We thank you from our hearts for giving us lots of moments of happiness.

“I wish you lots of blessings and lots of success in your career in professional football and I imagine every one of us wants to become a player like you.”

Caicedo looked happiest when he was out on the pitch.

The venue was the Estadio Etho Vega, essentially a rough playing surface – a bobbly mix of patchy grass and dust – near the houses of his home neighbourhood.

Footage showed him appearing at the far post to put away a tap-in, not unlike he did in Qatar.

Speaking about that goal which, for a few minutes seemed to have put Ecuador through, he said even then he had thoughts of his childhood.

He said: “I dreamed of playing for the national team and going to a World Cup and scoring.

“I achieved it and, despite the defeat, we must keep training and dreaming.”

Caicedo praised the work of head coach Gustavo Alfaro, who he said he considers like a father.

As he did so, he may have been thinking about how Alfaro, literally and metaphorically, put an arm around his shoulder at a press conference in Qatar and intercepted a question about human rights which a French reporter had fired at the player.

Caicedo will spend more time in the Santo Domingo area before heading back for the resumption of Albion fixtures.

Who knows where he might go in the future?

But how much his home neighbourhood means to him as he becomes known around the globe is more obvious than ever.