Jhonder Cádiz will be the first Nashville SC player to play in Copa America. The striker was named to Venezuela’s roster for the premier South American international tournament on Thursday, one of four strikers on the squad.
Cádiz, 25, earned his third and fourth caps for La Vinotinto during the international break, coming off the bench in their 3-1 loss to Bolivia and 0-0 draw with Uruguay. Venezuela will compete in Group A, playing against Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Cádiz will miss significant time with Nashville as a result of this call-up. He’ll be gone at least through June 27 when the group stage finalizes, and could see his time in Brazil extended if La Vinotino advance. The top four sides from each group will qualify for the knockout round.
Nashville SC will play three matches during the group stage. They’ll travel to New York Red Bulls on June 18, before a pair of home matches against Montreal and Philadelphia. Should Venezuela advance all the way to the final, he’d miss a fourth match against Atlanta United on July 8, plus potential additional time to travel and re-acclimate to Nashville.
📋 CONVOCATORIA:
— La Vinotinto (@SeleVinotinto) June 10, 2021
Estos son los 28 jugadores convocados por el seleccionador nacional @JosePeseiro que participarán en la #CopaAmérica. 🇻🇪 #VibraElContinente #VibraOContinente pic.twitter.com/LogjFaKA6G
Jhonder Cádiz’s loan agreement ends on June 30, but Nashville are expected to either trigger his purchase option or negotiate to extend his loan from Benfica. According to a report from MLSSoccer.com‘s Tom Bogert, Nashville are pursuing Ecuadorian international striker Michael Estrada, but his signing would be in addition to Cádiz, not as a replacement.
Venezuela kick off the 2021 Copa America against Brazil on Sunday, June 13. The match begins at 4:00 PM central, and will be broadcast on FOX.
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