Three Nashville players called for Gold Cup

Aníbal Godoy photo courtesy Nashville SC.

From Club release:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 1, 2021) – Nashville Soccer Club announced today that Defenders Walker Zimmerman (United States Men’s National Team) and Alistair Johnston (Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team) and midfielder Aníbal Godoy (Panama National Team) will represent their countries at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup this summer.

Zimmerman, Johnston and Godoy will join their national teams after Nashville SC hosts Philadelphia Union at Nissan Stadium on Saturday, July 3. Limited tickets for the 7 p.m. CT match remain available at NashvilleSC.com/Tickets.

Zimmerman and the six-time Gold Cup Champions USMNT will compete in Group B along with Johnston and Canada in Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park, on July 11, with Canada and Martinique facing off in the first match of the day. The USMNT and Canada will remain in Kansas City for the Group Stage.

Zimmerman enters the tournament with 14 international caps for the United States, after playing 45 minutes in an international friendly against Costa Rica on June 10. The 2020 Major League Soccer Defender of the Year has played the full 90 minutes in six of his last eight matches with the USMNT, posting six shutouts, three of them during the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Johnston has been a mainstay for the Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team since bursting on the scene after a sensational MLS rookie campaign in 2020. The 22-year-old defender earned his first international call-up in January 2021, and has now accumulated five caps, all of them wins.

International veteran Aníbal Godoy will lead Panama in Group D alongside Honduras, Grenada and Qatar in Houston, Texas. Panama will take on Qatar on July 13 and then travel to Orlando, Fla. to face off against Grenada on July 20.

Godoy earned his 105^th international cap last night as Panama faced Mexico in an international friendly at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. In his last six appearances with Panama, they have amassed a 4W-1L-1D record with their most recent win being against Curaçao as part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier for Concacaf.

No Randall Leal for Costa Rica is either a major surprise (or just something that hasn’t come down yet). With a newborn son and a Nashville team that’ll be without other key players, it may not be the worst thing to tale a pass. The Ticos have been pretty dysfunctional for a couple years now, and some times away could be good – or go down as a missed chance to impress a new manager.