Great contribution to Real Madrid
Including assists, 21-year-old striker Gonzalo Garcia has directly contributed 5 goals (4 goals, 1 assist), nearly half of Real's total (11 goals) on the way to the semi-finals. He is leading the scoring charts with Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund) and Marcos Leonardo (Al-Hilal), but all three players have been eliminated from the tournament.
Gonzalo Garcia (right) is currently a prominent player of Real Madrid.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In the history of the Club World Cup (which began in 2000), only Luis Suarez (Barcelona, 2015) has scored five goals in a single tournament. Denilson (Pohang Steelers, 2009), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real, 2016) and Pedro (Flamengo, 2022) are the only others to have scored four goals in a single tournament. Garcia has now equalled Ronaldo's record for most goals in a single Club World Cup for Real. He needs just one more goal to make history, with multiple records.
On average, Garcia scores 1 goal for every 3 shots (others would have a "watchable" rate if they scored 1 goal in 3 games). He is a rare type of centre-forward (or "number 9") these days: extremely dangerous when operating in the opponent's penalty area, like Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the past. And he is good at scoring with his head. This is a trait that Real need for next season, when they have strengthened the crossing specialist Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Having come through the youth ranks, Garcia has only made five appearances (without scoring) for Real in La Liga. Now, with four goals in five games at the Club World Cup, it is not only an unexpected step forward. It is also a thorny issue awaiting an answer from coach Xabi Alonso.
What does the future hold for Gonzalo Garcia?
On the one hand, Garcia has won the trust of new coach Xabi Alonso. But on the other hand, he has started the last five games mainly because Kylian Mbappe was sick. Now, Mbappe has come off the bench, and scored. Who will start in the semi-final against PSG?
It's hard to predict, not only because of who deserves it more, but also because of tactics, and... a few other things. Last season, Mbappe was ridiculed because right after he left, his old team PSG won all matches while his new team Real lost everything. Coach Luis Enrique even said that PSG was thriving "thanks" to Mbappe not being in the team. This will be the first time Mbappe, in a Real shirt, faces PSG. There's no need to talk about his determination to score against his old team, which his coach criticized him for. There's also no need to talk about PSG's careful preparation to deal with Mbappe. The question is whether Mbappe or Garcia will start in Real's attack? There's also a battle of wits between the two coaches!
Garcia said: "Fans compare me to Raul Gonzalez. If I were half of Raul, it would be a dream come true. I'm living the dream." In fact, Garcia is even better than Raul was!
When Raul rose to prominence (mid-1990s), Real did not have a "Galacticos" strategy. Fernando Redondo, Juan Esnaider (Argentina), Michael Laudrup (Denmark), Ivan Zamorano (Chile), Freddy Rincon (Colombia) were the five foreign players on the list. It was too convenient for Raul to start and score the most goals in the team. Now, people cannot even imagine that Garcia will start, when Real's strikers already have Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, Brahim Diaz, Rodrygo, Endrick, not to mention Jude Bellingham who can play as a midfielder or striker.
Alvaro Negredo, Juan Mata, Jese, Roberto Soldado, Jose Callejon, Joselu, Pablo Sarabia all showed their talent when they rose from Real's youth team, but eventually had to find other places to play because they could not compete with Ronaldo (Brazil), Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Owen, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Karim Benzema. Now, it is Gonzalo Garcia's turn to stand in front of mountains named Mbappe or Vinicius. Will he "climb the mountain" successfully?
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/gonzalo-garcia-dang-song-trong-mo-185250708221125511.htm
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