Santiago Damián García Correa (14 September 1990 – 4 February 2021), nicknamed Morro, was a Uruguayan 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 a
striker.
His last club was Argentine club
Godoy Cruz, which tenure is considered the most successful of his professional career.
[La carrera del Morro García](_blank)
on Mendoza Post, 6 February 2021 being the top scorer of the club in
Argentine Primera División
The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...
and an idol of club supporters. García was also the top scorer of the
2017–18 Argentine Primera División
The 2017–18 Argentine Primera División - Superliga Argentina (officially the Superliga Quilmes Clásica for sponsorship reasons) was the 128 season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season began on 25 August 2017 and ended ...
season with 17 goals.
Club career
García started his career in Libertad Washington youth teams. He then joined
Nacional de Montevideo
Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'') is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in La Blanqueada, La Blanqueada, Montevideo.
The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' an ...
. He was considered one of Uruguayan
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
's best prospects.
He appeared on the first team in 2008, at just 17 years old, capturing everyone's attention with his speed and strength. He made his official debut on 27 July 2008 against
Defensor Sporting Club
Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievement ...
, scoring in this game his first goal as a professional player. After his great appearances in
Nacional
Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to:
Airlines
* Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002
* Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961
Bank
* Banco Nacional, a ...
,
San Lorenzo de Almagro
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...
tried to hire him without success.
During the last two seasons of the Uruguayan championship García participated in the first team of Nacional, although he wasn't considered part of the starting team. This situation changed in the
2010–11 season, in which Garcia evolved into becoming not only part of the starting team, but also one of its most valuable players. He managed to win the Primera División championship with Nacional and ended the season as the league's top goalscorer, with 23 goals in 28 matches.
On 18 June 2011, García joined Brazilian
Clube Atlético Paranaense
Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded ...
for 2 million, signing a five-year contract. After failing a
drug test
A drug test (also often toxicology screen or tox screen) is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or saliva, oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent ...
for
cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
doping, García was traded to Turkish club
Kasımpaşa. In 2013 he returned to Nacional, and one year later he moved to
River Plate, where he remained until January 2016 when he was acquired by Godoy Cruz.
[
With the ''Mendocino'' team, García spent the most successful years in the history of the club. The team finished second to ]Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
in 2017–18 (only two points behind), and qualified to play the 2017 Copa Libertadores
The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (officially the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017 for sponsorship reasons) was the 58th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier c ...
. During those five years playing for Godoy Cruz, García also became the club's all-time top scorer in Primera División.[
]
International career
García was a member of the Uruguay under-20 team that participated in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup
The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...
, where he played three games and scored one goal.
Death and legacy
On 6 February 2021, after several days without contact, García, aged 30, was found dead in his apartment in Godoy Cruz, with a gunshot wound in the right parietal.
He had been receiving psychiatric treatment. It was later confirmed that the cause of death was suicide by gunshot. After preliminary examinations by the Scientific Police, it was determined that he died on 4 February.[
After the death of García was confirmed, Godoy Cruz announced that number 18 worn by García during his tenure with the club would be retired in his honour.Godoy Cruz retirará la camiseta 18]
on ''El Gráfico'', 6 February 2021
on TyC, 6 February 2021
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Santiago
1990 births
2021 deaths
Footballers from Montevideo
African diaspora in Uruguay
Uruguayan men's footballers
Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers
Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers
Club Nacional de Football players
Club Athletico Paranaense players
Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers
Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo) players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Uruguayan Primera División players
Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil
Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba footballers
Argentine Primera División players
Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina
Men's association football forwards
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Süper Lig players
2021 suicides
Suicides by firearm in Argentina
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina
Association football players with retired numbers