GODOY A FAMILY MAN FIRST WITH WIFE AND TWO SONS
NASHVILLE – Becoming a professional soccer player as a teenager at age 16 in his home country of Panama might lead some to believe that future Nashville SC midfielder Aníbal Godoy puts soccer above everything else. However, the 29-year-old husband and father of two is a family man first, whether its shuttling kids to and from school or kicking a soccer ball around at home with his youngest son.
“I enjoy spending time with my family,” said Godoy. “I’m the type of person who takes the kids to school and picks them up after school. My little one after school, he enjoys playing soccer so I kick the ball with him quite a bit. My sons and my wife are everything to me. Spending time with family when you live away from your home country, they’re the most important thing that you have.”
Godoy will become a key component of Nashville SC’s inaugural Major League Soccer roster in 2020 after he spent the last four years in California playing in MLS for the San Jose Earthquakes. It’s a change he and his family are ready for despite moving over 2,000 miles and two time zones away, and it won’t be the first time he has played soccer in the Music City.
As a member of the Panamanian National Team, Godoy and his countrymen competed against the U.S. Men’s National Team in the Group Stage of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, drawing 1-1. Godoy started and played a full 90 minutes on the Nissan Stadium pitch, not knowing he would eventually call it home.
“For me personally and my [Panama] teammates, we were actually surprised to see the beauty of the landscape around Nashville. When Nashville SC became interested in me, I had a conversation with my family and my wife. That was the time when we started to look for places and look a bit deeper into what Nashville offered. We’re incredibly excited to be coming next year.”
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With his acquisition, Nashville is getting one of the premier midfielders in MLS. Godoy ranks near the top of numerous statistics amongst all midfielders. From passing accuracy to long balls and interceptions to fouls earned, Godoy can be an engine of a team that will be hard-pressing offensively and defensively and will be a vital piece to the spine of Nashville Soccer Club in its MLS infancy.
“My teammates will say that I bring charisma on and off the pitch,” said Godoy. “My priority is to work as a group over being an independent player. I always look for unity within our team. I’m a hard worker. I don’t have so many qualities on the ball, but I always enjoy having possession and having control of the ball. I am humble, a hard worker and always looking for the greatness of the group.”
Godoy got a chance to showcase his talents on the world’s biggest stage in the summer of 2018 when he was named to Panama’s first-ever World Cup squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. With his acquisition, Nashville SC is getting a category of player it has never had – a World Cup veteran.
“It was a grand moment for us. It was a glorious moment for our country and something that Panama has been looking for in the entire history of the nation. We were honored to participate in the World Cup and to make history for our country.”
Now, Godoy will get to display that level of experience to the fans of the Boys in Gold. Nashville SC and its technical staff have pursued Godoy to make him a focal point of its first Major League Soccer team, someone that Nashville can get behind and cheer for with his gritty style of play, and can also relate to with his diverse background as a Panamanian international. When he found out that he would be headed to Nashville, he was humbled and excited at what is to come.
“It was a very happy and joyful moment,” said Godoy. “It was an honor to have Nashville SC scout me and something that made me feel really special. Their intentions on adding me to the team were very strong, and it’s a great honor for me to be representing Nashville SC come 2020.”
