Gonzalo Manuel García García (born 13 October 1983), sometimes known simply as Gonzalo García or Gonzalo, is a professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

of Croatian club

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. Born in Uruguay, Gonzalo moved to Spain at the age of 13 and joined

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

as a teenager, but never made it past the third team or played any higher than

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

in Spain, spending most of his career in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

as well as in Cyprus and Israel. As a manager, García led teams in the top divisions of football in the Netherlands, Croatia and Portugal.

Early life

Born in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay, Gonzalo moved to Spain at the age of 13, to his grandparents' native Galicia. He was nicknamed after Uruguay and

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

player

Álvaro Recoba Álvaro Alexánder Recoba Rivero (; born 17 March 1976; nickname "El Chino"

, who played in the same position. He would eventually represent the Spain national under-17 team, at the same time as

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and spent most of his career at La Liga club Barcelona. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was known ...

José Antonio Reyes José Antonio Reyes Calderón (; 1 September 1983 – 1 June 2019) was a Spanish professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger and also as a forward. He made his debut for Sevilla aged 16 and signed for English club Arsenal in J ...

and

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He is the curr ...

. His performances attracted suitors such as

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

– who sent

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining th ...

to his home in the village of Os Tilos, Teo – but his cash-strapped club

SD Compostela Sociedade Deportiva Compostela is a Spanish football team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They play home matches at San Lázaro, and compete in . History A team called Compostela Foot-ball Club was founded in 1928, ceasing to exist ...

had already accepted an offer of 50 million pesetas (€300,000) from

, a record for the capital team's youth teams.

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 Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

Mérida UD Mérida Unión Deportiva was a Spanish football club based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1990, they last played in Tercera División – Group 14 when dissolved in 2013, and hosted games at the Estadio Roma ...

and

CF Palencia Club de Fútbol Palencia was a Spanish football team based in Palencia, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1975 and dissolved in 2012, it held home games at '' Estadio La Nueva Balastera'', with an 8,100-seat capacity. ...

. In 2005, Gonzalo moved to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, first with

AGOVV Apeldoorn AGOVV () is a Dutch association football club based in Apeldoorn. It was established on 25 February 1913. The club played in professional football from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 to 2013. AGOVV's men's first squad plays in 2024–25 in the Derde ...

, being one of the leading top scorers in the second level season under manager

Stanley Menzo Stanley Purl Menzo (born 15 October 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the manager of the Suriname national team. He spent ten full seasons at Ajax, appearing in more th ...

. He immediately switched to the

after signing with

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

, playing his first match in the competition on 10 February 2007 against

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

but appearing rarely over the course of two seasons, finishing 2007–08 on loan to

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

and helping the club narrowly avoid relegation. Subsequently, Gonzalo signed with

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

, penning a four-year deal with the

Euroborg Euroborg () is the stadium in Groningen, Netherlands. It is the home ground of association football, football club FC Groningen, with a capacity of 22,525. The stadium site houses a casino, movie theater, school, supermarket, and a fitness centre ...

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 In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, now to

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

. In June 2011, Gonzalo moved to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

with

AEK Larnaca FC AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EPA Larnaca and Pezoporikos. The club also has a men' ...

. On the 14th, in the

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in an 8–0 away routing of

Floriana FC Floriana Football Club is a Maltese professional football club in the town of Floriana that currently plays in the Maltese Premier League. Considered one of the most supported and successful clubs in Maltese football, Floriana has won 26 national ...

. In June 2012, Gonzalo signed with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club (; ''Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Tel Aviv'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from Tel Aviv and part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Tel Aviv Sport Club. Founded in 1906 in Jaffa as t ...

. He settled rarely in the following years, but did spend two seasons with

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Anorthosis Famagusta FC Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

the first The First or The 1st may refer to: Arts and entertainment Albums * The 1st (album), ''The 1st'' (album), by Willow, 2017 * The First (Shinee album), ''The First'' (Shinee album), 2011 * The First (single album), by NCT Dream, 2017 Television * T ...

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

Coaching career

García started working as a manager immediately after retiring, acting as assistant at

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

of the

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

. On 16 May 2019, after one year in the same capacity at

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

, he was appointed their head coach, as

Marino Pušić Marino Pušić (born 18 August 1971) is a Dutch-Croatian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He last managed Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. Besides football, he was also a player and a manager in compet ...

had been dismissed despite winning the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

title. On 3 August 2019, García's debut for Twente was a 1–1 home draw with

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

. His contract was not renewed after it expired following the 2019–20 season, in which the club finished 14th and the campaign was abandoned due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. García was appointed head coach of Croatian

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

side

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 (), commonly referred to as Istra 1961, is a Croatian professional football club based in Pula, that competes in the Croatian First League. It is a common opinion amongst many people that ''Istra 1961'' was founded i ...

on 16 June 2021. After achieving 9th place in his first season, he finished 5th in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, missing out on Europe by one place; his team won against

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional association football, football Football team, club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They ...

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

and local rivals

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

. He then allowed his contract to expire, and was replaced by Mislav Karoglan. In May 2024, García was hired as the head coach of Portuguese club

F.C. Arouca Futebol Clube de Arouca () is a professional Association football, football club based in the Porto metropolitan area. Founded in 1951, the club plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with a 5,600-seat capac ...

, with a contract for one season and an option to extend for another. He left by mutual agreement on 28 October with the team in 14th having won twice and drawn once in nine

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

games, as well as winning their match in the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

. García returned to Istra 1961 in January 2025, succeeding

Paolo Tramezzani Paolo Tramezzani (born 30 July 1970) is an Italian Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football player, player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is the head co ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

* *
Stats at Voetbal International
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Gonzalo 1983 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen AD Alcorcón footballers AEK Larnaca FC players AGOVV players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Men's association football midfielders CF Palencia footballers Croatian Football League managers Cypriot First Division players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie managers Eredivisie players Expatriate football managers in Croatia Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Portugal F.C. Arouca managers FC Groningen players FC Twente managers FC Twente non-playing staff Footballers from Montevideo Footballers from the Province of A Coruña Heracles Almelo players Israeli Premier League players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Mérida UD footballers NK Istra 1961 managers HNK Hajduk Split managers People from Santiago (comarca) Primeira Liga managers Real Madrid C footballers SC Heerenveen players SD Compostela footballers Segunda División B players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish football managers Spanish men's footballers Tercera División players Uruguayan expatriate football managers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Israel Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguayan people of Galician descent Uruguayan people of Spanish descent VVV-Venlo players