José Rafael García Torres (born 14 August 1974) is a Mexican 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 ...

and current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. As a player, he was a participant in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

/ Japan and the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Club career

A midfielder comfortable in the center or on the left side, García began his club career with

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...

in 1992.MedioTiempo
"Rafael García - Veracruz"
. Retrieved on March 29, 2013. During the 1994-95 season, he established himself in the Pumas lineup, appearing in 32 matches and scoring 8 goals. In the summer of 1998 he left for

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...

, beginning a six-year stint at the club. At Toluca, García won league titles during the Verano 1999,MedioTiempo
"Toluca 2 (5-4) 2 Atlas"
. June 6, 1999. Retrieved on March 29, 2013. Verano 2000, and Apertura 2002MedioTiempo
"Toluca 4 - 1 Morelia"
. December 21, 2002. Retrieved on March 29, 2013. seasons, appearing in the finals on each occasion. Playing wide on the left alongside

Fabián Estay Fabián Raphael Estay Silva (born October 5, 1968) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Estay played for club sides in Chile, Switzerland, Greece, Mexico and Colombia. At international level, he repres ...

and Víctor Ruiz in his early years with Toluca, García later formed a central midfield trio with Israel López and Antonio Naelson. In 2004, he moved to

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

, joined

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

for one year in 2005, then returned to Cruz Azul briefly before finishing his top-division career in 2008 with

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

International career

García also earned 52 caps for the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

, scoring three times. He made his international debut on February 7, 1996 in a 2-1 loss against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. In the

1996 U.S. Cup The 1996 U.S. Cup was a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) organized international football tournament in June 1996. The USSF had hosted the annual U.S. Cup since 1992, except for the World Cup years of 1994 and 1998. The four teams in 1996 ...

, he scored his first international goal with a bending free kick against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the Rose Bowl. García represented Mexico in four matches of the

1997 Copa América Bolivia hosted the Copa América for the second time in its 38th edition. It was held from 11 to 29 June. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There is no qualifying for the final tournament. All South Ameri ...

, but missed the 1998 FIFA World Cup. After the appointment of

Manuel Lapuente Manuel Lapuente Díaz (born 15 May 1944) is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager. Playing career He has played 13 matches for Mexico and scored 5 goals. Career as manager He coached Mexico at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and lead ...

as national coach, García appeared at the 1999 Copa América and the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, which Mexico won. Recalled to the team for the 2002 World Cup, he played 14 minutes in the opening-round match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. García remained in the team under new coach

Ricardo Antonio Lavolpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was in ...

, helping Mexico to victory in the

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one ...

and scoring in the quarterfinal against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Although he also played in the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious ...

and five qualifying matches for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, FIFA
"FIFA Player Statistics: Rafael GARCIA"
Retrieved on March 29, 2013. he did not play any matches in the 2006 competition itself. García made his final international appearance in a 2-1 loss to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on June 1, 2006. New light has surfaced that nepotism was the reason why he participated in the World Cup games of 2006 as he is a relative of then Coach Ricardo La Volpe. At junior international levels, García competed for Mexico at the

1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the fourth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Florence, Montecatini Terme, Viareggio, Massa, Carrara, and Livorno in Italy between 16 August and 31 August 1991. Players born after 1 Augu ...

and 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship, as well as the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.''

Honours

Toluca * Mexican Primera División: Verano 1998, Verano 1999, Verano 2000, Apertura 2002 *

Campeón de Campeones ''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...

: 2003 * CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 2003 Mexico * FIFA Confederations Cup:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

: 2003 Individual *

Best XI: 2003

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Rafael 1974 births Living people Footballers from Mexico City Association football midfielders Mexican footballers Mexico international footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1997 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Olympic footballers of Mexico Club Universidad Nacional footballers Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Cruz Azul footballers Atlas F.C. footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers Liga MX players Mexican football managers Club Puebla managers Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Pan American Games medalists in football Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games