Having hung up his boots in January, the former Spain midfielder hopes that the 2014 FIFA World Cup would be the occasion La Furia Roja make it big by defending their title.
“I would love to see Spain win again but I know it’s going to be a tough one,” Garcia told Dawn in an exclusive interview.
“[Hosts] Brazil, Germany and even France who came in the end [through the final play-offs] are going to be fighting for it.
“It’s not going to be an easy World Cup but I think Spain will be in the semi-finals and will try to bring the trophy back again.”
Garcia it was who sent Spain to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, scoring a hat-trick against Slovakia in a 5-1 rout at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in the first-leg of their qualifying play-off.
“Without a doubt, it was the sort of night that every footballer dreams about,” he recalls. “As well as being a very important game, in which a lot was at stake, it was my first start for the national team and it worked out perfectly.”
The second-leg at Bratislava ended 1-1 as Spain progressed to their eighth successive World Cup finals.
His stunning performance against Slovakia, coupled with consistent performances with Liverpool with whom he won the 2005 Champions League, saw him get a spot in Luis Aragones’ squad for the finals.
“Playing for the national team is probably any kids’ dream,” Garcia, 35, recalls. “First time I was called up, I was so nervous that couldn’t eat anything the whole day.
“When the squad for the World Cup was announced, I was with my family and we celebrated as if we’d already won it.”
At the finals, he started in both Spain’s first two Group ‘H’ victories against Ukraine and Tunisia as Aragones’ side went through to the round-of-16 as group winners.
There, though, they ran into France who ran out 3-1 winners at Hanover by scoring twice in the last seven minutes.
Garcia came on as a substitute during the second-half in that match and he believes that Spain lacked belief in that game.
“The team of 2006 was a good combination of youth and experience which could’ve delivered a bigger performance but I think we needed a bit more belief in us,” Garcia tells.
The maturity and the belief came two years later when Spain won their first international title — the 2008 European Championships.
Garcia scored his fourth and final international goal during the qualifying campaign for the Euros but an inconsistent campaign with Atletico Madrid, whom he joined in 2007 after three seasons at Liverpool, saw him miss the cut for the finals.
Garcia, though, has no regrets.
An even bigger triumph for Spain came when they won the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa under former Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque.
Del Bosque’s side then confirmed their status as the World’s top team when they defended their European crown at the 2012 Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
“Vicente [Del Bosque] is one of the best coaches Spain have had,” Garcia says. “He has the ability to make players better and to mix the quality of each one to make a perfect machine.”
Spain begin their World Cup defence in Group ‘B’ alongside the Netherlands, Chile and Australia.
They face Netherlands in their opening game on June 13 in a repeat of the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg’s Soccer City which the La Furia Roja won 1-0.
“We know the Netherlands and Chile very good and they are tough teams but I can see Spain going through to the next round easily,” Garcia reckons. “Australia are the group outsiders but they will also will be good opponents.”
As far as the player who will make the greatest impact at the World Cup is concerned, Garcia tips a player who plays in a position very similar to which he used to play in: Germany’s Mario Goetze.
“There are many players who can make a big impact at the World Cup and if I have to choose one except the typical ones as [Lionel] Messi, [Andres] Iniesta or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, I’d say Goetze,” says Garcia.“He is a different kind of player and I like the way he plays.”
‘Ronaldinho the best I played with’
After being loaned to Real Valladolid, Toledo and Tenerife, Garcia was signed by Atletico Madrid in the 2002-03 season after the club secured promotion to La Liga.
An impressive season at Atletico and Barca came calling. Barca had struggled the previous season, finishing a dismal sixth.
But it was a time of fresh hope at Barca. The club had a new president in Joan Laporta and had hired former Dutch midfielder Frank Rijkaard as coach.
But the biggest arrival of that summer at the Catalan club was Ronaldinho.
“I played with a lot of players during my career but the best ever I played with was Ronaldinho,” Garcia recalls. “He was just amazing.
“I think he’s one of the best players in the history of the game and he will be remembered by what he did at Barca and I’m really pleased to have had the chance of playing with him.”
Garcia and Ronaldinho led Barca to a second-place finish that season but he wouldn’t stay at the club for long.
The very next season, Rafael Benitez brought him to Liverpool where he would enjoy the “biggest achievement” of his career.
There it was when he showed his taste for the big occasion.
He scored three times against Bayer Leverkusen in Liverpool’s 6-2 aggregate victory over the Germans in the Champions League knockout stages.
Then, he brought Anfield to their feet by scoring a spectacular goal against Juventus to send Liverpool to the semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory over the Italian giants.
He wasn’t done yet.
He scored a goal – infamously dubbed a ‘ghost goal’ by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho – as Liverpool prevailed over their Premier League rivals 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
In the final at Istanbul, Garcia and Liverpool stunned the mighty AC Milan to win the Champions League on penalties having trailed 3-0 at half-time.
“I think for a player to win a Champions League means everything,” Garcia tells. “You always dream about it and when it happens, you don’t know how to react.
“It is so overwhelming and my biggest achievement without a doubt.”
More silverware followed at Liverpool including the UEFA Super Cup and the FA Cup in the following season.
In January 2007, Garcia ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and missed Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League final that year before he returned to Atletico that summer.
“The three years at Liverpool were fantastic,” Garcia says. “There was a great atmosphere in the dressing room and I won four trophies.
“What more can I ask for? That never came in my wildest dreams, not even when I was a kid.
“I had great team-mates at Liverpool. I enjoyed a lot playing alongside Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. Gerrad was the strength of the team and Xabi – alongside Jamie Carragher – the brains of the team.”
After two seasons with Atletico, Garcia left for Racing Santander before joining Greek giants Panathinaikos.
And, in 2011, he left for Mexico where he played for Puebla for a year and Pumas UNAM before retiring in Januray this year.
“It was a great experience in Mexico and I enjoyed a strong league, a different way of playing football and a big passion for the game,” he says. “I can only say good things about my time there.”
Having hung up his boots, Garcia is now watching two of his former clubs – Barca and Atletico – making good progress in the Champions League.
Barca beat Manchester City 2-0 in the first-leg of their Champions League last-16 tie while Atletico were 1-0 winners over Milan.
“Both the teams are playing very good and it’d be great to see them advance to the quarter-finals,” Garcia says.
“Barca have the obligation to win it having been thrashed 7-0 by Bayern Munich in the semi-finals last year while Atletico have already had an unbelievable season.”
About his future plans?
“Right now I’m enjoying the time with family and friends that I haven’t be able to do it before,” Garcia says.
“A Football TV show is on the cards and I’m learning languages. Maybe next year, I’ll start a coaching programme.”
Who knows, Garcia might follow in the footsteps of his fellow La Masia graduate Pep Guardiola and become a Champions League winner as a coach as well.
NOTE: This is the first instalment of a 14-part Dawn 2014 FIFA World Cup Special which will include exclusive interviews with current and former players, features and analyses ahead of football’s showpiece event in Brazil.
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