Nashville SC’s Jhonder Cádiz to play in Copa America

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.

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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.

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.

Author: Ben Wrightis the Director of Soccer Content and a Senior MLS Contributor for Broadway Sports covering Nashville SC and the US National Team. Previously Ben was the editor and a founder of Speedway Soccer, where he has covered Nashville SC and their time in USL before journeying to Major League Soccer since 2018. Raised in Louisville, KY Ben grew up playing before a knee injury ended his competitive career. When he is not talking soccer he is probably producing music, drinking coffee or hanging out with his wife and kids. Mastodon

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