Uruguayan defender Diego Godín said goodbye to football this Sunday and hung up his boots after Vélez Sarsfield's defeat against Huracán 1-0 on the last day of the Argentine Football Professional League Tournament.
“Twenty years of career and since I was five years old I have been playing ball and giving myself. They are not tears of sadness but of happiness from always having given themselves to the fullest and this ending is like a kind of relief. Wherever I was, I always gave myself body and soul for my teammates and for the club I defended, as well as respecting the rival and all the people. That is what I take with me and because of my legacy of having been a good person both on and off the pitch”, the 37-year-old defender visibly said emotionally.
The 'Pharaoh', in statements to the official ESPN broadcast added: “I came to world champion soccer to finish my career. A football that is among the best in the world and I am very grateful because I came to a great club hand in hand with the 'Cacique' (Medina), with a great objective that was first to qualify for the World Cup and then to be able to play it. And here they helped me and I will always be grateful because they helped me fulfill my last great dream. They behaved sensationally and I leave with the peace of mind that I always gave myself and tried to reciprocate in everything to the people, to the club”.
While reviewing his career, the four-time World Cup player with La Celeste said: “It is impossible to forget each of the teams I played for: Cerro, where I started and they gave me everything to become a professional; from Nacional, a club where I had a short and intense passage of a year where I was able to become fond of the club and the people with me; from Villarreal, which was my first jump to Europe; of Atlético de Madrid, a club of which I became a fan, of which I will identify myself throughout my life and of which I have the best personal and football memories”.
“After Inter and Cagliari that opened the doors for me in Europe to continue my career; Atlético Mineiro and then Vélez. I remember everyone. It is impossible to remember each one because they are a little piece of those 20 years ”, Godín completed in a nostalgic tone.
He also referred to the arrival of Edinson Cavani at Boca Juniors and revealed: “We talk but not about football. I knew for a while that he could come and he asked me more about family life and I gave him some good advice, which is what happened to me. So I wish him the best and that he do well."
Finally, Godín had a few words to dedicate his career: "This is for my family: my parents, my sister and my wife who gave me everything to get here." The player born in Rosario (Uruguayan department of Colonia, in the southwest of the country) 37 years ago said goodbye to professional football after being a leading figure in the Spanish Atlético de Madrid.
There he played nine seasons, during which he was champion of the Spanish League, Cup and Super Cup, as well as winning two UEFA Europa Leagues and three European Super Cups. Godín wore the Uruguayan shirt 161 times, being 82 times captain.
Godín won the 2011 Copa América and was a semifinalist in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with Celeste, he also played for the Uruguayans Cerro and Nacional, the Spanish Villarreal, the Italians Inter Milan and Cagliari and the Brazilian Atlético Mineiro before signing for Vélez Sarsfield, for play a total of 716 games with 44 goals converted.
