Gonzalo García (footballer, born 1983)

Gonzalo Manuel García García (born 13 October 1983), sometimes known simply as Gonzalo García or Gonzalo, is a professional football manager and former player. Born in Uruguay, he moved to Spain at the age of 13.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is García and the second or maternal family name is García.

Gonzalo García
Gonzalo with Heerenveen in 2007
Personal information
Full name Gonzalo Manuel García García
Date of birth (1983-10-13) 13 October 1983
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1989–1994 La Rinconada
1994–1998 Defensor
1998–2001 Compostela
2001–2002 Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Real Madrid C
2003 Alcorcón 1 (0)
2004 Mérida 5 (0)
2004–2005 Palencia 19 (1)
2005–2006 AGOVV 35 (16)
2006–2008 Heerenveen 14 (1)
2008 → Heracles (loan) 16 (3)
2008–2011 Groningen 49 (7)
2010 → VVV (loan) 14 (3)
2011–2012 AEK Larnaca 23 (12)
2012–2014 Maccabi Tel Aviv 27 (4)
2013–2014 → Anorthosis (loan) 19 (9)
2014–2016 Anorthosis 15 (1)
2015–2016 → Heracles (loan) 8 (0)
2016–2017 Compostela 22 (7)
Total 267 (64)
International career
2001 Spain U17 3 (1)
2002 Spain U19 1 (0)
Managerial career
2017–2018 Esbjerg (assistant)
2018–2019 Twente (assistant)
2019–2020 Twente
2021–2023 Istra 1961
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gonzalo joined Real Madrid as a teenager but never made it past the third team or played any higher than Segunda División B in Spain, spending most of his career in the Dutch Eredivisie as well as in Cyprus and Israel.

Early life

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Gonzalo moved to Spain at the age of 13, to his grandparents' native Galicia. He was nicknamed after Uruguay and Inter Milan player Álvaro Recoba, who played in the same position.[1]

He would eventually represent the Spain national under-17 team, at the same time as Andrés Iniesta, José Antonio Reyes and Fernando Torres. His performances attracted suitors such as A.C. Milan – who sent Franco Baresi to his home in the village of Os Tilos, Teo – but his cash-strapped club SD Compostela had already accepted an offer of 50 million pesetas (€300,000) from Real Madrid, a record for the capital team's youth teams.[2]

Playing career

Gonzalo could never move past Real Madrid's third team as a senior. In his country of adoption he never played in higher than the third division, also representing AD Alcorcón, Mérida UD[3] and CF Palencia.

In 2005, Gonzalo moved to the Netherlands, first with AGOVV Apeldoorn, being one of the leading top scorers in the second level season under manager Stanley Menzo. He immediately switched to the Eredivisie after signing with SC Heerenveen, playing his first match in the competition on 10 February 2007 against Vitesse Arnhem[4] but appearing rarely over the course of two seasons, finishing 2007–08 on loan to Heracles Almelo and helping the club narrowly avoid relegation.

Subsequently, Gonzalo signed with FC Groningen, penning a four-year deal with the Euroborg club.[5] First-choice in his debut campaign – 28 matches, four goals – he was rarely played in 2009–10, being again loaned in the January transfer window, now to VVV-Venlo.[6]

In June 2011, Gonzalo moved to Cyprus with AEK Larnaca FC.[7] On the 14th, in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, he scored a hat-trick in an 8–0 away routing of Floriana FC.[8]

In June 2012, Gonzalo signed with Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. He settled rarely in the following years, but did spend two seasons with Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta FC, the first on loan.

Gonzalo returned to Dutch football on 4 August 2015, after agreeing to a contract at Heracles.[1] He retired at the age of 34, following a spell with former youth club Compostela.[9]

Coaching career

García started working as a manager immediately after retiring, acting as assistant at Esbjerg fB of the Danish 1st Division.[10] On 16 May 2019, after one year in the same capacity at FC Twente, he was appointed their head coach.[11] His contract was not renewed after it expired following the 2019–20 season.[12]

On 16 June 2021, García was appointed head coach of Croatian Prva HNL side NK Istra 1961.[13] After achieving 9th place in his first season, he finished 5th in 2022–23, missing out on Europe by one place; his team won against GNK Dinamo Zagreb, HNK Hajduk Split and local rivals HNK Rijeka.[14] He then allowed his contract to expire, and was replaced by Mislav Karoglan.[15]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 27 May 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Twente Netherlands 1 July 2019 30 June 2020 28 8 6 14 38 51 −13 028.57
Istra 1961 Croatia 1 July 2021 Present 76 21 22 33 89 112 −23 027.63
Total 104 29 28 47 127 163 −36 027.88

Honours

Player

Maccabi Tel Aviv

References
  1. Balado, Fran (4 August 2015). "El gallego Gonzalo García "Recoba" retorna al fútbol holandés" [Galicia's own Gonzalo García "Recoba" returns to Dutch football]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  2. Balado, Fran (3 July 2011). "El día que Baresi vino en busca de un joven talento a Santiago" [The day Baresi came to Santiago searching for a young talent]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. "El Mérida refuerza su juego de ataque con Arenaza y Recoba" [Mérida bolster their attacking game with Arenazaz and Recoba]. El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 31 January 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  4. "Missen kansen breekt Heerenveen op" [Missed chances do Heerenveen in] (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 10 February 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  5. "FC Groningen haalt Gonzalo Garcia-Garcia binnen". www.soccernews.nl. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  6. "Gonzalo García volgt Honda op bij VVV-Venlo" [Gonzalo García succeeds Honda at VVV-Venlo] (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  7. Balado, Fran; Antelo, Iván (27 June 2011). "Más talento gallego para Chipre" [More Galician talent for Cyprus]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  8. "Floriana 0–8 AEK Larnaca". UEFA. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  9. "Gonzalo García 'Recoba' ya es jugador de la SD Compostela" [Gonzalo García 'Recoba' is already a SD Compostela player] (in Spanish). SD Compostela. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  10. Dehn, Anders (1 June 2018). "Efter opsigelse fra sportsdirektør: Esbjerg mister også den anden assistent" [After sporting director dismissal: Esbjerg also lose the other assistant] (in Danish). Tipsbladet. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  11. "FC Twente kiest voor assistent García García als nieuwe trainer" [FC Twente choose assistant García García as new manager]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 16 May 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  12. "FC Twente niet verder met Garcia als hoofdcoach" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  13. "PRESS: Gonzalo Garcia novi je trener Istre 1961" [PRESS: Gonzalo Garcia is the new coach of Istra 1961] (Press release) (in Croatian). NK Istra 1961. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  14. Martín, Carlos (7 June 2023). "Gonzalo García: "Dar el salto al Real Madrid fue como entrar en un mundo totalmente nuevo"" [Gonzalo García: "Taking the leap to Real Madrid was like entering a totally new world"]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  15. "Istra 1961, Mislav Karoglan nuevo entrenador. Sucede en el cargo a Gonzalo García" [Istra 1961, Mislav Karoglan new manager. Succeeds Gonzalo García in the role] (in Spanish). Todo Mercado Web. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  16. Gómez, Pablo (27 April 2013). "La cruzada de Recoba" [Recoba's crusade]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
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