Diego Godin Biography

Diego Godin, born on 16 February 1986, in Rosario, is an Uruguayan football player who plays as a central defender. Godin's career began at one of Uruguay's most popular clubs,

, where Diego spent 3 years, appearing in 63 national league games in which he managed to score 6 goals. In 2006 he moved to another very popular Uruguayan club - "Nacional".

After spending just a season in this club, as well as becoming the winner of the Uruguayan League, Godin moved to Spain, and to

in particular.

Together with the Spanish club Godin for the first time in history took second place in the La Liga, but did not win any trophies. During his 3 years in the “Yellow Submarine" Godin played 116 games in all competitions in which the Uruguayan managed to impress with four goals. In August 2010, he moved to another Spanish club,

, where he played from 2010 to 2019.

With Atletico, Diego won the Spanish league title, the Spanish Cup, the Spanish Super Cup, the

(twice), the

(three times) and twice reached the

final, but they were both unsuccessful for Atletico, notably because the opponent of the team in both finals was another Madrid club,

. He became Atletico's captain in 2018.

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All You Need to Know About Diego Godin Biography

He has been playing at the national team level since 2005, representing Uruguay at three World Cups, one Confederations Cup and four Copa Americas, winning that tournament in 2011. He became captain of the national team in 2015. He played his 100th match for the national team in 2016. On 25 March 2019, he played for the national team for the 126th time and holds the record for the Uruguayan national team in the number of appearances.

Diego Godin Information

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Diego Godin biography

, we will share some more general information about him such as

Diego Godin nationality

. Stay tuned.

Diego Godin Bio

• Full Name: Diego Roberto Godin Leal

• Nickname: el Flaco

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Diego Godin Physical Stats

• Weight: 78 Kg

• Height: 1.87 m

• Eye Color: Dark Brown

• Hair Color: Dark Brown

Diego Godin Football Information

• Position: Defender

• Jersey Number: 2

• Professional Debut: 2003

Diego Godin Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 16 February 1986

• Birth Place: Rosario, Uruguay

• Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

• Nationality: Uruguayan

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Diego Godin biography

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Diego Godin childhood

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Diego Godin Early Life

At the age of 15, he joined the Defensor Sporting club's sixth team and then moved in 2003 to Club Atletico Cerro, in the first division of Uruguayan football. In his beginnings, he was playing as a forward, but then he moved to the position of central defender where he had his best performance. Due to his great performance in Cerro, he was signed in 2006 by Club Nacional de Football.

His official debut for Nacional was on 26 August 2006 (Nacional 0 - Danubio Fútbol Club 1, Torneo Apertura 2006). With Nacional, he won the Liguilla Pre-Libertadores 2007 and was also very important in Nacional's campaign in the

2007 where he scored two goals and was the star of the team and the tournament.

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Diego Godin Profile

In 2007, Godin signed a five-year contract with Villarreal, playing his first official match for the Spanish team on 20 September 2007, in a UEFA Cup match with BATE Borisov. On 26 September Godin played his first league game against Racing Santander. In his second league game, he scored his first goal for Villareal against

. Despite his goal, Villareal lost the match.

In Godin's first season in Spain, Villareal finished second in the

, Villareal's best-ever ranking. Villareal's good season allowed them to participate in the Champions League in the 2008/09 season. On 17 September 2008, Godin played in this competition for the first time, against

In three seasons at Villareal, Godin played 116 games, often alongside Gonzalo Rodríguez in the heart of defence.

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Diego Godin biography

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Atletico Madrid

In the summer of 2010, Godin transferred to Atletico Madrid, the Europa League winner of the previous season. He made his first appearance for his new club on 27 October 2010 in a 2-0 win over

, which secured the UEFA Super Cup title for them.

Godin made his La Liga debut three days later in a 4-0 draw against Sporting Gijón. His first goal for the club came on 21 October 2010 against Rosenborg in the Europa League. It was on 30 January 2012, in the league match with Osasuna, that Godin wore the captain's armband for Atletico Madrid for the first time. He scored the only goal of the match. Godin took Atletico Madrid to the final of the Europa League in 2012 with his great performances. The Uruguayan defender played the entire match and Atletico beat

3-0.

As a result of winning the Europa League, Atletico Madrid took on Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup. Godin played the entire match and Atletico Madrid won 1-4. This was the third European trophy that Godin won. He won his first Spanish title with Atletico Madrid later that season. In the final of the Copa del Rey, Atletico won against Real Madrid at the extra time. Godin was in the starting line-up and played out the match.

Atletico were to take on

in the 2013 Supercopa de España. Godin played full ninety minutes in both matches, which both ended in a draw. However, Barcelona, unlike Atletico, scored an away goal. A new contract was signed by Godin on 1 November 2013, which tied him to the club until 2018. On the final matchday of the La Liga, Atletico visited Camp Nou for a decisive game for the league title against FC Barcelona.

Godin headed in Gabriel Fernández's cross to make it 1-1, which was enough for the tenth league title in Atletico Madrid's history. Atletico Madrid reached the final of the Champions League in which Real Madrid was their opponent. Godin played the entire match and was again a goal scorer. Nevertheless, Real Madrid won after extra time. Godin was included in UEFA.com users' Team of the Year on 9 January 2015. On 22 August 2014, Atletico Madrid, with Godin in the starting line-up won the 2014 Supercopa de España.

They drew 1-1 in the away game and then won the home game 1-0. Then in 2016, Atletico Madrid again reached the final of the Champions League. Just like two years before, they faced Real Madrid. After 120 minutes the game was still undecided, after which Atletico Madrid went down in the penalty shootout. Godin was nominated for the 2016 Ballon d'Or.

During the 2016/17 season, for the fourth year in a row, city rival Real Madrid was the team that eliminated Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. In the semi-finals, Godin played both matches, Atletico losing 4-2 over those two games. On October 28, 2017, Godin played his 315th game in service of Atletico Madrid against his former team Villarreal, passing Luis Perea as a non-Spaniard with most games for Atletico Madrid.

In the summer of 2018, following Gabi's departure, he became Atletico Madrid's first captain. Atletico Madrid reached the final in the Europa League, facing Olympique Marseille. They won the match (3-0) and Godin played the full ninety minutes. For the third time in his career, Godin won the UEFA Super Cup on 15 August 2018. Atletico Madrid defeated Real Madrid with Godin as captain after extra time (2-4). The defender gave the assist on Diego Costa's quick opening goal.

It was announced on 7 May 2019 that Godin would leave Atletico Madrid after nine years, having played 389 games for the Madrid club.

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Inter Milan

It was on 1 July 2019 that Inter revealed that Godin had signed a three-year contract with the Italian club. On 1 September 2019, Godin played his first official match for Inter Milan against

, replacing Antonio Candreva eleven minutes from the start. On 13 July 2020, he scored his first goal for Inter Milan, in the league match against Torino. Inter finished the Serie A 2019/20 with only one point less than champion Juventus.

In the Coppa Italia, Napoli proved too strong in the semi-final and they reached the final of the Europa League. It was Godin who scored a goal and made the score 2-2 in this match. Unfortunately, the match was lost 3-2. Godin became just the sixth player after Gerrard, Crespo, Alenitshev, Simonsen and Pedro to score in both finals of the two top UEFA club competitions. He ended the season at Nerazzurri with 36 appearances and 2 goals in all competitions.

Cagliari

Not in Antonio Conte's plans for the 2020-2021 season, he joined Cagliari for free on 24 September 2020, signing a three-year deal with the club. Diego Godin played his debut in the red and blue shirt on 4 October, scoring a goal in the 2-5 defeat to

.

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Uruguay National Team

When he was 19 years old on 26 October 2005, Godin was called up by Jorge Fossati for his first appearance in the national team, in a friendly match against Mexico. In 2007, Godin was called up by Óscar Tabárez to take part in the Copa América. Tabárez gave him a starting place in the first match against Peru, but later handed over the central defence to Andrés Scotti and Diego Lugano. It was on the bench that Godin would witness the elimination of his team in the semi-final against Brazil.

Godin made his first World Cup appearance in 2010 after his team qualified for the World Cup in the play-offs against Costa Rica. He was the central defender alongside Uruguayan captain Diego Lugano. Injured in the last group match against Mexico, Godin saw his team qualify for the Round of 16, a first for Uruguay since 1990.

Reflecting the strength of the Uruguayan defence, Godin and his team-mates conceded no goals in the group stage. Despite being there for the victory in the Round of 16, he missed the quarter-finals against Ghana again due to injury but played in the semi-final against the Netherlands and the match against Germany for third place (both lost).

In the Copa América 2011, Godin was part of the Uruguayan team. Due to his illness, Godin was unable to play most of the matches, but this did not stop his team from winning the tournament. In the end, he played only two minutes in the last moments of the final against Paraguay.

Victory in the Copa America opened the door to the Confederations Cup 2013 for Uruguay. Godin played all the matches for Uruguay, except for the crushing 8-0 victory against Tahiti. He could not prevent the elimination of his team in the semi-final against Brazil.

Diego Godin helped his team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup by playing in both play-off matches against Jordan. In Brazil, Uruguay got off to a bad start in the World Cup by losing their first match against Costa Rica (score: 1-3). In addition, Diego Lugano, team captain, was unable to take part in the matches against England and Italy due to a knee injury. Godin, therefore, obtained the captain's armband and was now in charge of the central defence with his team-mate at Atletico Madrid, José María Giménez.

Nevertheless, they managed to beat England and then Italy. Against the Italians, Godin scored the only goal of the match against them with a header from a corner, qualifying his team in the process. However, the adventure ended in the last 16 following the 2-0 defeat by Colombia.

Godin continued to be captain, while his team-mate Giménez was given a starting place in Uruguay's central defence. Both defenders were part of the Uruguayan squad for the Copa América 2015. The defending champions were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the Chileans, the eventual winners of the tournament.

Godin and Uruguay left the 2016 Copa America at the group stages. It was during this tournament that the Uruguayan defender played his hundredth match for the national team.

After helping his team qualify (scoring three goals), Diego Godin was selected by Óscar Tabárez to take part in the 2018 World Cup. With their strong defence, Godin and his teammates were the only teams not to have conceded any goals during the group stage. Uruguay reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to France.

On 25 March 2019, in a friendly match against Thailand, Godin celebrated his 126th appearance for Uruguay, becoming the team's most capped player in history by breaking Maxi Pereira's record. In May 2019, he was again called up to play in the Copa America in Brazil. In the first match against Ecuador, he delivered a decisive pass for Edinson Cavani. His team was eventually eliminated by Peru in the quarter-finals.

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Style of Play

Diego Godin is a very physical central defender, skilled in aerial play, who also has excellent tackling and anticipation skills. He combines his technical skills with an acknowledged leadership ability, which makes him a natural leader for his teammates.

As an excellent header of the ball, he scored several decisive goals from corner kicks: his club's only goal on 17 May, on the 38th day of the 2013/2014 La Liga, confirming the final score (1-1) that allowed Atletico to become champions, on 24 May 2014 in the Champions League final, where his team lost 4-1 after extra time, and on 24 June of the same year against Italy, where he scored the goal from the back that allowed Uruguay to qualify for the Round of 16 of the 2014 World Cup.

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Reception

Many football critics and his fellow professional footballers consider Diego Godin to be amongst the best football defenders playing right now. Alongside Diego Lugano, Diego Godin is also regarded as one of the best defenders to ever play for Uruguay national team.

Goal Celebration

As a defender Diego Godin has scored some good goals during his career. Although he has no signature goal celebration, but we have seen him many times celebrating his goals with sliding goal celebration, mostly with an Atletico Madrid shirt.

Diego Godin outside Football

Godin is one of those footballers that keeps his personal life away from public attention and there is not much information about his life outside football, but as a family man, he spends much of his spare time with his family and friends. On his Instagram, other than posts related to football, you can only see some pics of his family.

On 21 November 2020, it was announced that Diego Godin has tested positive for the Covid-19 virus after returning from Uruguay national team camp to his club. He was the 16th member of the national team to test positive for the virus alongside Luis Suarez and others.

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Diego Godin Personal Life

In this section of Diego Godin biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about things like

Diego Godin life story

and

Diego Godin religion

with you.

Family, Children and Relationships

Back in 2013, Diego Godin first met his girlfriend as she was travelling around Europe with friends and in Barcelona, they wanted to go to see an Atletico Madrid match against Barcelona. Sofia asked her father for tickets and had to go to the hotel where the Atletico Madrid players were staying to get them. That's where she met the club's player and captain of the Uruguayan national team.

After five years of dating, Diego Godin and Sofía Herrera got married in a civil ceremony in July 2018 and held their wedding in December of that year. The bride and groom held a get-together at the home of Sofia's parents, daughter of former Peñarol player Jose "Pepe" Herrera. The couple currently has a son together.

Philanthropy

Diego Godin is always involved in charitable works and has played in many charity matches, but one that is worth mentioning is that he and his wife, decided to donate all of their wedding gifts to charity in Uruguay. It is said that this donation was made to a hospital in Montevideo, Uruguay which helps premature born babies.

Legal Issues

There is no report regarding any legal issues or disputes about Diego Godin on the media.

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Diego Godin Career Statistics

In this section of Diego Godin biography, get ready as we are going to share some information about his career stats both on the club and international level.

Club

Since starting his career in 2003 at Cerro, Diego Godin went on to play a total of 662 matches for many clubs in South America and Europe and scored 42 goals, which is very good for a central defender. The highlight of his career without a doubt is Atletico Madrid, where he was a key part of the defensive line and played 389 matches in all competitions, scoring 27 goals.

International

Since 2005, Diego Godin is a part of the Uruguay national team and has played 139 matches for his country, scoring 8 goals. Diego Godin is the most capped player to ever play for Uruguay national team. His best year at the international level was 2015, where he managed to score 3 goals in 11 matches for his country.

Diego Godin Honors

On the club level, Diego Godin has managed to win many awards and titles, including La Liga, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup and finished runner-ups in UEFA Champions League two times.

At the international level, the player has won Copa America one and finished as China Cup champions on two occasions.

He has won many individual titles and awards which include La Liga Team of the Season, UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, UEFA Team of the Year, La Liga Best Defender, ESM Team of the Year, FIFA World Cup Dream Team and IFFHS Men's World Team among others.

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