Diego Roberto Godín Leal (Rosario, Uruguay, 1986) He spends a few days in Madrid as a LaLiga ambassador ahead of Sunday’s derby. In 2010 he arrived at an Atlético team that suffered in every derby. Little by little, together with Simeone and a unique generation, he turned the Metropolitan team into a legendary team. Now, after his retirement a few weeks ago, he sees the bulls from the sidelines, but few know like him what it is to live and feel in red and white. Leader wood.
Ask. What happens to Diego Godín after his retirement?
Answer. I just stopped playing and I am really enjoying being with the family, enjoying the things that were more difficult when playing. And enjoying my three-month-old daughter, Pilar. Traveling and enjoying a little of life.
Q. You live in Uruguay, where you broke all records in the National Team: number of games (161); more longevity (17 years and two months as an international); second with the most captaincies (after Diego Lugano); player with the most wins in history; with more minutes; with more World Cups (four, along with other historic ones)… What do these numbers tell you?
A. I am very proud of what I achieved with La Celeste. I arrived as a child and I have learned from great teachers like Lugano or Forlán, on and off the court. La Celeste was always my vitamin. The day I stopped having that ‘carrot’ I understood that she no longer wanted to continue playing. And I left it. I no longer had that illusion.
Q. In July you thought about doing your ‘last dance’ at Nacional in Montevideo, your second club in the country after Cerro. But he decided not to. Because?
A. If I went to the Uruguayan League, which, on the one hand, I wanted to, it was to be one hundred percent. Out of respect for the public and my country, I couldn’t hold anything back. And, after my daughter Pilar was born, it was time to be home and say ‘enough’ to football. She had given everything.
Q. Are you aware of everything you have achieved in football?
A. I still haven’t had much time to review everything. But I look at it with great tranquility, peace and happiness. It has been many years, many moments, a long and beautiful road.
Q. What do you remember about Villarreal?
A. An important step was coming from South America to Europe. And I fell into a great club like Villarreal. That opened the doors for a big team like Atlético to notice me and come here.
Q. That Atlético of 2010 had absolutely nothing to do with the current one…
A. It was different. ‘El Caño’ Ibagaza, a teammate at Villarreal at the time, always told me that Atleti was the perfect team for me. ‘You, who are Uruguayan, shout twice, make a couple of tackles, and lift Calderón,’ he said. And so I came to a beautiful club to be part of its great history and for people to remember me with so much affection.
Q. And to be part of its history with the famous goal at the Camp Nou in Simeone’s first League in 2014…
A. There were nine years with Atlético. Many titles, many games, many beautiful moments and others that were not so beautiful, but were a lot of learning. The main thing is that people felt identified with us, with the players, with the club, with Cholo. And without a doubt that goal against Barça culminated a spectacular year that gave us the League title against the best Barcelona in history, with Messi, and against one of the best Real Madrid in history, with Cristiano. A very important goal for me and for the club.
P. Simeone says that the turning point was the 2013 Copa del Rey, won against Madrid at the Bernabéu.
A. I believe that the mentality of a club is not forged in a day. We had already been creating a winning mentality and we knew that we were going to fight for everything. And we started doing it from the first day that Cholo arrived at the club and found a group of very noble footballers who were at the front, who were behind Cholo to the death, who loved the club, who were friends off the playing field and that on the playing field we were brothers. And well, that match is true that it is a turning point, especially for the environment and for the people after 14 years without winning a derby. But in football nothing changes in a single match, it is a process.
Q. How do the people of Madrid treat you on the street?
A. That makes me happy. Some greet me, others ask me for photos, but there is always respect. I think I always respected my rival and the beauty of my career is that I think I exuded nobility, even though I always defended and will defend Atlético to the death. When we won, we knew how to win without fail.
Q. Then, there are two defeats in derbies that athletic people will never forget: Lisbon and Milan.
A. The Champions League in Lisbon was the one that was closest. That year was impressive, with so much vertigo, so many matches. LaLiga was achieved a week before, and after the final there were mixed feelings of sadness, pain, a lot of emptiness, but also of knowing that we gave everything. In other words, we didn’t reproach ourselves at all, we literally emptied ourselves that season and won a League title. It’s true that the final hurts. It hurts to lose the way it was lost, but if I look back I do so with peace of mind. And then we got up, we won again, we competed again.
Q. And the one in Milan?
R. It was the one that left us the most empty and sad. Because it was the second final, we were all convinced and we knew and felt that it was ours. Then came Cholo’s words, those doubts that were generated. It was a difficult, hard moment, but there was so much strength that we had as a group, so much love that we had for the club and for that group of people, that we managed to lift the situation, and lift Cholo.
Godín reviews his life: his tears when talking about his wife and daughter
Q. And in the current Atlético do you recognize the same commitment, the same characteristics of a Cholo team?
A. It’s different. Neither better nor worse, it is a different team. We were a group of people with certain characteristics, we played in a certain way. Today they play differently, even with different game systems and they are different players. With the same coach, with his same passion, with his same heart, with his same love for the club, but a different dressing room.
Q. There is this ‘mantra’ that the Champions League owes one to Atlético. Match?
A. No, I don’t think the Champions League owes anything to Atlético. Things must be sought and deserved on their own merits. What we have achieved is because we have fought for it, we have deserved it… and what was not achieved is because we could not or the rival did it better.
Q. It seems that the Champions League is getting further away. And not only for Atlético… Like it is further away than in its time
A. From the immediate results, it is evident, it is not something that I say. But that speaks clearly of how difficult it is to compete in Europe. And I think it’s a bit in general in Spanish football, except for Real Madrid recently. Other Leagues and other teams are competing very well at the European level and it is their credit.
Q. What do you tell us about your friend Koke, who has not yet renewed. Does he recommend you continue or leave?
R. Honestly, let him stay. Koke is Atletico de Madrid, and I can’t imagine him anywhere other than here. He’s been from here since he was little. Because of his feelings, I would advise him to stay. He has his friends here, his family… It’s a fairy tale, being the biggest legend of the club, beyond everyone’s tastes. In fact, I would love for him to be able to stay here and retire at his club.
Q. How do you see the future of Josema Giménez?
Q. I don’t know what’s left on your contract. [éste y otro más], but I think Josema is also very identified with the club. He loves the club a lot, the people love him and he is a great center back. So I think he would also advise you to stay here.
Q. Your best friend on the squad is Griezmann, a ‘brother’.
A. We have a lot of contact. I am godfather to her daughter, that is, family. There is a lot of connection. And I lived through all of his stages and I also lived through the stage in which he was away, at Barcelona, where he had a really bad time. I appreciate the desire he had to return, he really appreciated how much people loved him here and how well his family was here. He did everything he had to do to come back. What he did last year was impressive. Antoine bowed his head, he knew how to work, he knew how to suffer, he knew how to endure what had to be endured to regain the people’s affection and respect. His preponderance in the game, in the people, in his teammates… all of this makes him much more complete as a player.
Q. The derby is coming up on Sunday. What would you take from your Atlético to win that match?
R. I always see it equal. It doesn’t matter how one team or the other is, it is a game with a lot of attention. And I don’t see him with many goals. I hope Atlético can win, it’s what we all want. It will be very equal. I don’t know what I could take… it’s difficult because I have friends and colleagues who may think something strange saying something. Maybe the desire and the illusion. I think that’s what an athletic player has to have, the same desire and the same enthusiasm and run like any other fan, because they know and we know that that game is the most important on the calendar. Let them run and give their all as the almost 70,000 people who will be cheering on the team. I think that is the DNA of Atlético.
Q. I don’t know if I was on the field the day the banner ‘Wanting a worthy rival for the derby’ was posted. Is it the great merit of this team to always compete with its eternal rival?
A. Yes, that is what I said before, that we as a club and as a team managed to position the team again on equal terms and to compete on equal terms with Barcelona, with Madrid in the League, with the abysmal difference that there was a budget. And today Atletico competes as equals in all competitions. It was difficult, hard work, but we did manage to position the club there.
Godín, with all the t-shirts from his career in the MARCA editorial office in Madrid.
Q. Let’s talk about your future. Choose what you are going to be: television commentator, sports director or coach?
A. Now I am really enjoying this stage of retirement, with family, with friends. I don’t have anything planned. Being an ambassador of LaLiga is something nice, to think of me as an ambassador, as a legend. It is an honor and a pride, but it is punctual. The role of coach is the one in which I would feel most comfortable, honestly. I want to be with the players, on the pitch… But we’ll see.
Q. Be careful that the life of a coach is very ‘bitchy’. [Risas].
A. I know, that’s why I’m not thinking about it today: being on trips, concentrating, being under constant pressure… I’m not thinking about it today. But I do have to be prepared in case at some point the ‘bug’ bites me again. And I will do the coaching course. Additionally, in Uruguay, I have already launched personal projects. Then, I have an image in football and I suppose there will always be possibilities.
Q. Do you see yourself looking fine in a few years, like now, or do you plan to indulge in food and enjoy what you couldn’t?
A. No, I will not deprive myself of any luxury when I feel like it, but I will lead the healthy life that I am already accustomed to doing. Since I stopped playing, I haven’t stepped foot in a gym or court. I have eaten roasts and I have enjoyed them. I haven’t thought about my weight or my belly, but no, I don’t see myself as chubby, with folds. [Risas].
2023-09-21 04:04:12
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