Juan Pablo García Contreras (born 24 November 1981) 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 lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. After his retirement, he became depressed and alcoholic but has since recovered.

Club career

Garcia was trained in the FC Atlas youth system and made his debut in the Verano 2000 season against Pachuca CF. He signed with

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

in July 2005 and returned to Mexico following the 2006

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

season and signed with CD Tigres UANL. Nicknamed ''Loquito'', he last played for Mérida.

International career

He played for the Mexico national team at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. He received his first cap for the senior national team on July 10 in a 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup match against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honours

Mexico U23 * CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

* * * 1981 births Living people Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Men's association football midfielders Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Mexico Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Atlas F.C. footballers Chivas USA players Tigres UANL footballers Jaguares F.C. footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers Club Puebla players Venados F.C. players Liga MX players Major League Soccer players Mexican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists in football 21st-century Mexican sportsmen {{Mexico-footy-midfielder-1980s-stub