Moises Caicedo proudly reports he is ahead of schedule as he makes childhood dreams come true.

But the Albion midfielder has no wish to slow down.

He wants to help his club on to the European stage.

The Ecuador midfielder has made an impressive return to the Premier League after what he admits was ultimately intense disappointment at the World Cup after so much promise.

Seagulls fans, mostly via TV but a few in the stadium, watched as a distraught Caicedo had to be helped to his feet after La Tri bowed out in the group stages, despite his goal against Senegal.

Caicedo was below his best when he returned to domestic action in the Carabao Cup tie at Charlton.

But he shone at Southampton and then Everton, where all three Ecuadoreans started together for the first time.

Caicedo’s spirits were lifted after Qatar when he visited his home town of Santo Domingo and received a hero’s welcome.

He joined in a game on the bumpy, patchy pitch where he used to play as a kid and first dreamed of what he is doing now.

Caicedo said: “I always dreamed firstly of playing in the Premier League, and I enjoy it because the football is very fast and, for me and a lot of people, it’s the best football in the world.

“I always dreamed of being at a World Cup - well, not one, but a lot of World Cups!

“But not at such a young age.

“I thought at this age I’d still be playing in Ecuador, just starting out in the (Ecuadorean) first division, something like that.

“I never imagined at this age I’d be achieving so much like playing at a World Cup, being a starter in the Premier League.

“It’s something incredible that is happening and I thank God because without him I’m sure this wouldn’t have happened.

“The road was hard but I’m here. I fought a lot to be here.

“What I always wanted was to be able to play for a big team and now I’m doing it. And to help my family a lot.”

Caicedo became Albion’s first goalscorer at a World Cup, beating Alexis Mac Allister to that distinction by one day.

But it was Mac Allister who went on to share in the ultimate team glory.

Elimination before the knockout stage hit Caicedo hard.

He said: “It hurt me an awful lot, to be honest, because we deserved to go further.

“But football is like that and we need to keep working, keep the right mentality and keep showing our football so we can be at the next World Cup if God allows.

“I’m very happy to be able to begin the World Cup, especially with a win.

“From a personal point of view I’m happy because I’ve debuted in a World Cup at a young age.

“I ended up scoring my first goal at a World Cup.

“That’s very positive so from my side I’m happy.

“I did a lot of things, helped the team a lot and I take that from the World Cup.”

Roberto De Zerbi’s surprising but successful decision to start Jeremy Sarmiento at Goodison Park meant all three Ecuadoreans were in the XI, having previously been on the pitch together for shorter periods late in games.

Back home, there is often reference to EcuaBrighton as the club’s name becomes increasingly well known further afield.

Caicedo said: “People have spoken about EcuaBrighton and it doesn’t sound bad!

“It’s nice to hear because we are taking Ecuador to the highest level and I’m very happy how people are supporting us and that motivates us more.

“We are always together, to go and eat, going to training, going to the gym.

“So the relationship is very good and we help each other.”

While Evan Ferguson was among those to take the headlines at Goodison, Caicedo was again outstanding.

His 89 touches included the raking pass which, helped by a defensive misjudgement, led to the first goal for Kaoru Mitoma.

There was a similarly impressive switch of play in the second half although the key instruction from De Zerbi is to play short.

He said: “I like to have a lot of touches of the ball and he likes us to pass the ball through the central midfielders.

“If I can get 100 touches, I will because I like the ball to go through my feet and then end up as a goal.

“He very much likes short passes.

“Sometimes we go long when they come and mark us closely but it is very rare that he wants us to launch the ball, that’s true.

“He wants us to play from the back, building and that it ends in a great goal.

“If you play from the back and it ends up as a goal, he loves that - us too.

“We are enjoying it.

“We are having a great season with this coach. I am sure we are going to stay up there in the table.

“We are training very well.

“We are very focused on every match and I’m sure we will take Brighton to a qualification place for the Champions League or Europa League.”