Gonzalo García (footballer, born 1983)
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gonzalo Manuel García García | ||
Date of birth | 13 October 1983 | ||
Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | ||
Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Twente (manager) | ||
Youth career | |||
La Rinconada | |||
Defensor | |||
Compostela | |||
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– | Twente | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Gonzalo Manuel García García (born 13 October 1983), known simply as Gonzalo or Recoba as a player, is a former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and the manager of Dutch club FC Twente.
Early years
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Gonzalo moved to Spain at the age of 14, his grandparents hailing from Galicia.
He would eventually represent the Spain under-17 team, at the same time as Andrés Iniesta, José Antonio Reyes and Fernando Torres.[1]
Playing career
Gonzalo joined Real Madrid's youth system, but could never move past its 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 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[2] 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. 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.[3]
In June 2011, Gonzalo moved to Cyprus with AEK Larnaca FC.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] He retired at the age of 34, following a spell with former youth club SD Compostela.[7]
Coaching career
García started working as a manager immediately after retiring, acting as assistant at Esbjerg fB of the Danish 1st Division.[8] On 16 May 2019, after one year in the same capacity at FC Twente, he was appointed their head coach.[9]
Honours
Maccabi Tel Aviv
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Missen kansen breekt Heerenveen op" [Missed chances do Heerenveen in] (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 10 February 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Floriana 0–8 AEK Larnaca". UEFA. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Gómez, Pablo (27 April 2013). "La cruzada de Recoba" [Recoba's crusade]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
External links
- Gonzalo García at BDFutbol
- Gonzalo García at LaPreferente.com (in Spanish)
- Stats at Voetbal International (in Dutch)
- Gonzalo García at Soccerway
- Use dmy dates from July 2013
- 1983 births
- Living people
- Uruguayan people of Spanish descent
- Sportspeople from Montevideo
- Uruguayan footballers
- Spanish footballers
- Association football midfielders
- Segunda División B players
- Tercera División players
- Real Madrid C footballers
- AD Alcorcón footballers
- Mérida UD footballers
- CF Palencia footballers
- SD Compostela footballers
- Eredivisie players
- Eerste Divisie players
- AGOVV Apeldoorn players
- SC Heerenveen players
- Heracles Almelo players
- FC Groningen players
- VVV-Venlo players
- Cypriot First Division players
- AEK Larnaca FC players
- Anorthosis Famagusta FC players
- Israeli Premier League players
- Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players
- Spain youth international footballers
- Spanish expatriate footballers
- Uruguayan expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
- Expatriate footballers in Cyprus
- Expatriate footballers in Israel
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel
- Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
- Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
- Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Israel
- Spanish football managers
- Eredivisie managers
- FC Twente managers
- Spanish expatriate football managers
- Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands