LaLiga winner and 161-cap international star will RETIRE this weekend, bringing an end to his 20-year career

Football will bid farewell to a modern-day legend this weekend, with a former LaLiga winner set to hang up his boots for good.

Ex-Atletico Madrid centre back Diego Godin, 37, is set to retire after a 20-year career that has seen him win silverware at club and international level.

He joined Argentine side Velez Sarsfeld last summer, and his contract was due to run until December.

However, he has now agreed to end his contract prematurely, and will make one final appearance for the club this weekend before bowing out.

‘It’s true, Diego has decided that Sunday will be his last game,’ a source told AFP, as quoted by BeIn Sports.

Diego Godin (pictured lifting the UEFA Super Cup with Atletico Madrid in 2018) will retire from football on Sunday

Godin played a crucial role in Atletico Madrid’s LaLiga triumph in 2013-14

‘After that, he’ll go back to Uruguay and will no longer play.’

Godin turned professional back in 2003 in his homeland of Uruguay before moving to Europe to join Villarreal four years later.

In 2010, he signed for Atletico, where he would enjoy the most successful period of his career.

During his nine-year stay in the Spanish capital, Godin won the Europa League twice, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup and the UEFA Super Cup on three occasions.

The highlight of his Atletico career came in 2014 when Diego Simeone’s men upset the odds to win LaLiga for the first time in 18 years.

Godin scored the equaliser on the final day against Barcelona to secure the title for his team. 

They also made the Champions League final that season, and Godin scored again, but Sergio Ramos netted a last-minute equaliser for Real Madrid, and Atletico were blown away in extra time. 

Two years later, they suffered the same fate, this time losing on penalties to Zinedine Zidane’s side.

Godin is a legendary figure in Uruguay, and is their most-capped player after playing 161 times for his country.

He won the Copa America in 2011, and played at four World Cups, with Uruguay finishing fourth in the tournament in 2010.

His final appearance for his nation was at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with Uruguay agonisingly being knocked out in the group stages.