Sergio García (footballer, born 1983)

For other people named Sergio García, see Sergio García (disambiguation).
For another Spanish footballer, see Sergio García (footballer, born 1989).
Sergio García

García playing for Espanyol in 2012
Personal information
Full name Sergio García de la Fuente
Date of birth (1983-06-09) 9 June 1983
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward / Winger
Club information
Current team
 Al-Rayan
Number 9
Youth career
Bon Pastor
1995–2002 Barcelona
1997–1999 → Damm (loan)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2001–2002 Barcelona C 22 (11)
2002–2004 Barcelona B 60 (34)
2003–2005 Barcelona 4 (0)
2004–2005 → Levante (loan) 31 (7)
2005–2008 Zaragoza 90 (14)
2008–2010 Betis 62 (21)
2010–2015 Espanyol 145 (41)
2015– Al-Rayan 13 (8)
National team‡
1999 Spain U16 2 (1)
2001 Spain U17 3 (1)
2001–2002 Spain U19 9 (7)
2003 Spain U20 11 (7)
2004–2005 Spain U21 11 (4)
2008 Spain 2 (0)
2003– Catalonia 13 (8)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 December 2015.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 December 2015
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is García and the second or maternal family name is De la Fuente.

Sergio García de la Fuente (born 9 June 1983) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Qatari club Al-Rayan SC. Mainly a forward, he can also appear as a winger, preferably on the right.

After starting out at Barcelona he went on to represent mainly Zaragoza and Espanyol, serving as captain of the latter. Over the course of 12 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 298 games and 71 goals.

García appeared for Spain at Euro 2008, winning the tournament.

Club career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, García rose through the ranks of FC Barcelona, finding however opportunities almost non-existent in the senior squad.[1] He made four first-team appearances during the 2003–04 season, his debut coming on 3 September 2003 in a 1–1 home draw against Sevilla FC.

Moving to Levante UD in 2004 mere months after extending his Barça link,[2] García proved himself a La Liga player, a trait he continued to display at Real Zaragoza, whether as a starter or the first option from the bench. In 2007–08 he played all 38 matches, while the Aragonese were eventually relegated from the top level.

At the beginning of the 2008–09 campaign, García was linked with a number of Premier League clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Stoke City, along with fellow team-mate Diego Milito. Rumours that he would leave Zaragoza had been further fuelled after the club's relegation, as he was thrown out of a side pre-season training session by manager Marcelino García Toral and was then left out of their opening day defeat against Levante.[3]

On 1 September 2008, in the dying seconds of the transfer window, after continuous rumours, García signed for Real Betis,[4][5] for a fee close to €10 million. He scored his first goal for his new club on 27 September in the team's home game against Real Madrid (1–2 loss), following up on his own saved penalty.[6] On 16 November he netted a brace in at 3–1 home win over Racing de Santander[7] and, on 18 January of the following, added another in the 3–1 success at Real Valladolid, in which he also assisted the other goal.[8]

On 7 February 2009 García helped Betis achieve a landmark victory at neighbouring Sevilla, scoring in a 2–1 win.[9] In form, he was struck with a knee injury after celebrating his opener against CD Numancia, a 3–3 home draw on 4 April,[10] eventually missing a month of competition – with Betis struggling during this time – and eventually dropping down a level at the end.

García scored 12 goals in the 2009–10 season, but the Andalusians failed to promote. In August 2010 he signed a five-year contract with RCD Espanyol, moving to the Catalan side as a replacement to veteran Raúl Tamudo, who left the club after nearly 20 years of service.

In May 2015, after netting a career-best 14 league goals during the campaign, García turned down an offer to join Qatar's Al Sadd SC, who had recently signed Barcelona's Xavi.[11] On 29 June, however, he joined Al-Rayan SC in the same country.[12]

International career

Without having been previously capped, García made the Spanish final squad-of-23 for UEFA Euro 2008 (which Spain went on to win) as a replacement for Barcelona's Bojan Krkić.[13] On 31 May 2008 he made his debut for the national side, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute for David Silva in a 2–1 friendly win against Peru in Huelva.[14]

On 18 June García earned his first competitive cap, playing for the full 90 minutes against Greece in Spain's third and final group D game in Euro 2008: in the 88th minute he delivered a pinpoint left-footed cross for Daniel Güiza to head home the 2–1 winner.[15]

García also represented Spain at all youth levels, as well as appearing frequently for the unofficial Catalan national team. On 22 December 2009 he scored the side's first goal in a 4–2 victory against Argentina and, on 30 December 2013, he netted twice in a 4–1 triumph over Cape Verde.[16]

Club statistics

As of 20 March 2015
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona 2002–03[17] La Liga 00002[lower-alpha 1]020
2003–04[17] La Liga 40201[lower-alpha 2]070
Total 40203090
Levante (loan) 2004–05[17] La Liga 31710—327
Zaragoza 2005–06[17] La Liga 19460—254
2006–07[17] La Liga 33662—398
2007–08[17] La Liga 384412[lower-alpha 2]0445
Total 90141632010817
Betis 2008–09[17] La Liga 28941—3210
2009–10[17] Segunda División 341210—3512
Total 622151—6722
Espanyol 2010–11[17] La Liga 21340—253
2011–12[17] La Liga 24532—277
2012–13[17] La Liga 28700—287
2013–14[17] La Liga 371241—4113
2014–15[18] La Liga 25961—3114
Total 13536174—15240
Career total 322784185036886
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Cup

Honours

Spain
Spain U19
Spain U20

References

  1. ↑ "Debe ser el número 23" [Must be number 23] (in Spanish). ESPN. 18 November 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Sergio García signs new deal; UEFA.com, 1 March 2004
  3. ↑ Marcelino echa del entrenamiento a Sergio García (Marcelino throws Sergio García out of training session); Periodista Digital, 4 August 2008 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Betis build with Sergio García; UEFA.com, 2 September 2008
  5. ↑ Sergio García: "Poco a poco se puede estar más arriba" (García: "Little by little we can move up in the ranks"); Marca, 3 September 2008 (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Real Betis 1–2 Real Madrid; ESPN Soccernet, 27 September 2008
  7. ↑ Real Betis 3–1 Racing Santander; ESPN Soccernet, 16 November 2008
  8. ↑ Valladolid 1–3 Real Betis; ESPN Soccernet, 18 January 2009
  9. ↑ Sevilla FC 1–2 Real Betis; ESPN Soccernet, 7 February 2009
  10. ↑ Real Betis 3–3 Numancia; ESPN Soccernet, 4 April 2009
  11. ↑ Juárez, María Carmen (27 May 2015). "Sergio García da marcha atrás y dice ‘no’ al fútbol qatarí" [Sergio García makes a U-turn and says 'no' to Qatari football] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Sergio García marxarà al Qatar" [Sergio García will go to Qatar] (in Catalan). RCD Espanyol. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "Raúl Out, Sergio García in Spain Euro 2008 Squad". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  14. ↑ "España-Perú (2–1): Un ensayo poco convincente" [Spain-Peru (2–1): A hardly convincing trial] (in Spanish). Huelva Información. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Russia 2–0 Sweden & Greece 1–2 Spain". BBC Sport. 18 June 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  16. ↑ "Catalonia – Cape Verde: Catalonia claim victory with eight FC Barcelona players (4–1)". FC Barcelona. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Sergio García: Sergio García de la Fuente". BDFutbol. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "Sergio García". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 March 2015.

External links

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