Miguel Ângelo Moita Garcia (born 4 February 1983) is a Portuguese former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played mainly as a
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
.
Club career
Garcia was born in
Moura,
Alentejo, being a youth product of
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
and making his debut with the first team in
2003–04, in a 2–1 away win against
Académica de Coimbra where he played the first half.
The following season was remarkable for him: first, against
S.L. Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.
Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...
in the
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...
, he missed the
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
that
eliminated his team in the
round of 16
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
on 26 January 2005. On 5 May, in the
last minute of
extra time, he scored a
header in the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
semi-finals second leg against
AZ Alkmaar
Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...
, as Sporting
lost 2–3 away but qualified through the
away goals rule.
Garcia signed a pre-contract agreement with
Reggina Calcio
Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo.
They are nic ...
, joining in summer 2007 after his link with Sporting expired. He suffered a serious
knee injury in October, and did not play a single match for the Italian side; on 17 March of the following year, the club communicated the decision to terminate his contract.
In July 2009, after more than two years out of football, Garcia joined
Jorge Costa
Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida (born 14 October 1971) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently manager of Académico de Viseu.
Nicknamed ''Bicho'' (animal) and ''Tanque'' (tank) by his colleagues and fans for ...
's
S.C. Olhanense
Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve.
Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...
,
recently promoted to the
Primeira Liga. However, as
João Pereira arrived from
S.C. Braga
Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...
to former side Sporting in late December, he was chosen as his immediate replacement, moving for
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
50,000 on a one-and-a-half-year contract.
On 1 September 2014, after spells in Turkey and Spain, Garcia joined
NorthEast United FC
NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...
for
the inaugural campaign of the
Indian Super League
The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...
. On 15 January of the following year he signed with another club in the nation,
I-League
The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...
's
Sporting Clube de Goa
Sporting Clube de Goa, simply known as Sporting Goa (also known by its abbreviation SCG), is an Indian professional football club based in Panaji, in the Indian state of Goa, that competes in Goa Professional League. The club has also competed ...
, returning to his previous team on 20 June.
After suffering a bilateral achilles tendinopathy injury in the opening game of the
2015 season, against
Kerala Blasters FC
Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established ...
on 6 October, Garcia was sidelined for several months.
International career
Garcia was a member of the
Portugal under-21 side at the
2004 UEFA European Championship
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...
, which saw them finish in third place. He failed to gain a place in the squad that
competed in Olympic football in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
the same year, however.
Post-retirement
After retiring, Garcia majored in
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
and opened his own company.
Career statistics
Honours
Sporting CP
*
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...
:
2006–07
*
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
runner-up:
2004–05
Braga
*UEFA Europa League runner-up:
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
[
]
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Miguel
1983 births
Living people
People from Moura, Portugal
Sportspeople from Beja District
Portuguese footballers
Association football defenders
Primeira Liga players
Segunda Divisão players
Sporting CP B players
Sporting CP footballers
S.C. Olhanense players
S.C. Braga players
Reggina 1914 players
Süper Lig players
Orduspor footballers
Segunda División players
RCD Mallorca players
Indian Super League players
I-League players
NorthEast United FC players
Sporting Clube de Goa players
Portugal youth international footballers
Portugal under-21 international footballers
Portugal B international footballers
Portuguese expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate footballers in India
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in India