Who is Leo Godoy, Athletico’s reinforcement named as the best full-back in Argentine football

“Best full-back in Argentine football”. Right-back Leonardo Godoy, or just Leo Godoy28 years old, reaches Athletico on the rise. It is no coincidence that the player was on the radar of European football clubs, Saudi Arabia and Brazil – Furacão beat strong competition from Corinthians, but São Paulo and Botafogo have also targeted the Argentine.

“He is a right-back with many offensive characteristics. He started at Atlético Rafaela. Then, he stood out at Talleres. Until Estudiantes bought him. He debuted with the Estudiantes shirt in October 2020 and, since then, he has established himself as a starter . Godoy was becoming a key player of vital importance in the team”, explains Osvaldo Fanjul, from Radio 221, from La Plata.

Standing 1.73 meters tall, Leo Godoy was born in the Argentine city of Concordia, a municipality in the province of Entre Ríos, a region that borders Uruguay. The only son in the family, having three sisters, he awakened his passion for football when he saw his father play at the neighborhood club.

As a child, he was divided between school, the family business where he helped with replacing products and participating in championships between neighborhoods. “Each one gave a peso and we combined to buy snacks, soft drinks. It was our Copa Libertadores”, said the player in an interview with Jaque y Mate TV channel on YouTube.

At the age of 14, with a lot of resistance from his parents, he moved to the city of Rafaela, in the Province of Santa Fe, around 400 kilometers from home, to live his dream of being a football player. The family, even after their son’s rise in Argentine football, continues to live in the city of just over 100 thousand inhabitants.

Like most athletes, he had difficulties in the simple accommodation at Atlético Rafaela until he was hired by Talleres, in 2017. In the Córdoba team, he remained for four seasons, with good individual numbers, and debuted in the Libertadores, a childhood dream. Godoy played in both games against São Paulo, in February 2019, in the elimination of the São Paulo team in the first phase.

However, days later, he went through his biggest tragedy in football: he fractured the fibula in his left leg in training and missed the rest of the season. Recovered, he continued with outstanding performances and aroused the interest of Estudiantes. By the Pinchas, in three seasons, he played 141 games, with nine goals and 19 assists. In fact, he was a starter in both clashes against Furacão in the quarter-finals of the Libertadores 2022.

Athletico will pay around 3 million dollars (R$ 14.5 million) for 100% of the player’s rights and close a contract until the end of 2027. Leo Godoy had his economic rights divided between Estudiantes (50%), Talleres (40%) and Atlético Rafaela (10%).

“My dream is to play for the national team, like all players. But I always say that you can’t think ahead, it’s step by step, before thinking about the future”, said the athlete about his main career objective. Now at Furacão, the full-back will face his first challenge away from Argentine football.

Athletico’s new reinforcement is a more offensive full-back, who reaches the baseline a lot and has a high success rate in crosses. Furacão’s characteristic play in the last two years, following the release of Fernandinho, can be improved for 2024. The formation widely used by Rubro-Negro this season, with two full-backs and with Lucas Esquivel further back, can also favor the qualities of the athlete on the right side.

Argentine journalists detail a little more about Leo Godoy’s virtues and explain why he became one of the best full-backs on the continent.

“Leo arrived at Estudiantes when he was 24 years old, coming from Talleres, where he was already demonstrating very interesting things. But he failed in completing the plays. It made a lot of difference with his speed and breaking up spaces on the outside, but that final pass was missing. After a year at the club, it started to improve and the truth is that it is experiencing permanent growth”, explains Tomás Yanques, from Cielo Sports Group, from La Plata.

“He is one of the best full-backs in Argentine football. I believe that for Brazilian football, he is the ideal full-back. He’s simple, he doesn’t talk much. He plays a lot of games in a row and has had some muscle problems. But when he wasn’t there, the team was sorry,” he adds.

Osvaldo Fanjul remembers that Godoy stood out in the semifinal and final of the 2023 Copa Argentina and that he helped lead Estudiantes to the local title and place in the 2024 Libertadores. “Athletico took the best full-back in the Argentine Championship. Leo was a decisive player , expanding the field. He was decisive against Defensa y Justicia in the Copa Argentina final where he participated in the goal. He had already provided an assist in the semi-final against Boca”, he states.

“He is a player with offensive characteristics, a lot of speed, with a great change of technical rhythm and technically very good. Athletico has a full-back made just for Brazilian football. It takes a player who is physically very fast and also technically interesting. He is stronger in attack than in defense, although in defense, due to his speed, he has good conditions”, adds the journalist from Radio 221citing that Godoy was voted the best defender of the Copa Argentina in a vote on social media.

Datasheet

Full name: Leonardo Ezequiel Godoy
Birth: 04/28/1995 (Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina).
Position: right side.
Height: 1.73 m.
Career: Atlético Rafaela, Talleres and Estudiantes, all from Argentina.