Photo courtesy Nashville SC
The long-awaited is now official. From Club release:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 28, 2021) – Nashville Soccer Club announced today the contract extension of forward Jhonder Cádiz for the remainder of the 2021 Major League Soccer season. Cádiz was originally brought in on loan by Nashville SC on Sept. 9, 2020 from Portuguese powerhouse S.L. Benfica as one of the club’s Designated Players.
“Jhonder has produced positive signs on and off the field during his time with us, and we are encouraged to be able to extend his loan,” said Nashville SC General Manager Mike Jacobs.
Since joining Nashville SC, Cádiz has appeared in 17 matches for the Boys in Gold in all competitions. Nashville owns an 8W-2L-8D positive record with Cádiz on the field and is undefeated when he scores a goal. Thus far in 2021, the attacker has registered two goals and an assist in 380 minutes played.
The 25-year-old forward was instrumental in Nashville becoming one of the most successful expansion sides in MLS history by reaching the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. The attacker started in all three playoff matches.
Prior to arriving in Music City, Cádiz spent time with S.L. Benfica before going on loan to Dijon FCO in Ligue 1, France’s top division of soccer, in 2019.
While in France, Cádiz became the fifth Venezuelan player to score in Ligue 1 over the past 50 seasons when he netted the winning brace in a 2-1 victory over 2020 UEFA Champions League Finalist Paris Saint German on Nov. 2, 2019.
At the international level, Cádiz has made four appearances for the Venezuelan National Team. The striker’s debut came at 23 years-old on Oct. 16, 2018 in a 2-0 victory over United Arab Emirates. Prior to competing in the CONMEBOL Copa América 2021, Cádiz appeared in two matches during Word Cup Qualifications on June 3 and 9 respectively.
Nashville SC release
The big question in these parts was whether Nashville would have to purchase him outright or whether the loan through 2021 would be a possibility. The latter was ideal, and is now reality. Benfica’s finances and murky transfer dealings (including some that specifically relate to Cádiz) in the past year-plus seemed to give Nashville the upper hand in any sort of renegotiation over a fee, and instead, the Boys in Gold got something even better.
Cádiz stirs up mixed emotions in NSC fans, despite a pretty solid goal-scoring record, given that he entered the club in far-from-ideal circumstances last Fall (and the team wasn’t necessarily among the league’s most productive in the goal-scoring department last season, either). Whether that’s perception about his workrate – or, bizarrely, his speed, given he’s almost certainly the fastest striker on the team, aside from Abu Danladi – the Venezuelan will have a chance to win the fans over for the remainder of this season.
He was recently away from the team with his national side, participating in a pair of Word Cup Qualifying matches before sitting out all four group-stage games in Copa América after reportedly testing positive for the novel coronavirus, which can cause the Covid-19 disease. Copa is taking place in Brazil, where the numbers for Covid are… less than idea.
Cádiz was in La Vinotinto‘s squad for yesterday’s Copa match (though he did not see the pitch), indicating he has cleared protocols, and should be able to return to Nashville SC’s squad if his tests come up clean upon his return from Brazil.
Club and Country 