Luis Garcia has featured in five games for Central Coast Mariners and as this season draws closer to its conclusion so does the end of the 37-year-old Spaniard’s stellar career.
Many legends in the twilight of their playing days have moved onto Major League Soccer or various parts of Asia. But by choosing the A-League, Garcia joins the likes of Juninho, Robbie Fowler, Dwight Yorke, Emile Heskey and who could forget Alessandro Del Piero.
Garcia has opened up about why he picked Australia and particularly the Central Coast to end his career.
“Australia attracts a lot of people because of a lot of different culture and it’s a beautiful place to live, good points to add up.”
“I suppose like any player coming towards the end of their career wants to be in a changing room, training, competing to me was important before I retire, I didn’t want to leave home.
“But now, the club I chose have been really spot on with me and have demonstrated with me they have goals and youth.
“I’ve been over a month living here, people looked after me well, and I’m enjoying the city. Central Coast is a beautiful and incredible place to live and I’m enjoying the weather.”
POPULAR ARTICLES
How Twitter reacted to Melbourne City’s 4-1 win against Central Coast
Player Ratings – Melbourne City 4 Central Coast Mariners 1
What We Learned – Melbourne City 4 Central Coast Mariners 1
Central Coast Mariners confirm extent of Storm Roux’s horrific injuries
Despite wanting to contribute to a young and developing side, the Spaniard believes the progress isn’t clear yet but the club is on the up.
The Mariners sit dead last on the table with 12 points, losing to Melbourne City 4-1 on Sunday evening. They led at half time but dropped off in the second half and are now three games behind Wellington Phoenix who sit in ninth.
“There’s nothing negative I can see. The only negative thing is the team didn’t really get the results today and we’re not doing too well,” he said.
“But the team has a lot of potential. Today I was looking forward then the game’s first half was good but we didn’t make it today.”
It was inevitable Garcia would be asked how football in Australia ranks comparatively to his experiences at Barcelona, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.
“The level is good (Australian football), good places with characteristics, you can see every week players take the opportunity each week to excel and they do a great job.
“It’s only a question of the youth, people focus on the youth because of their young boys in the squad.
“The junior development is the future and they’re going to be getting players out soon.”
The Spanish great played 77 games for Liverpool from 2004-2007, he was also involved in 25 games for Barcelona in the 2003-04 La Liga season.
Most notably he won the 2005 UEFA Champions League along with Aussie Harry Kewell in Istanbul when Liverpool beat AC Milan 3-2 on penalties from a thrilling 3-3 draw after extra time.
“It was three wonderful years (at Liverpool), we were lucky to win a lot of important tournaments,” he said.
“Liverpool is a historic club, I was lucky enough to play there for many years. I’m always very grateful and I’ve enjoyed being an ambassador for the club.
When asked about life beyond football, the 37-year-old says he doesn’t have any immediate plans and is playing everything it by the ear.
“To be honest I’m not focusing on post-career at the moment, I’ve been working with TV, been an ambassador for Liverpool, I’m enjoying travelling and talking about football,” Garcia conceded.
“At this point in time I don’t think about being a coach.
“I only take it a day at a time, I only concentrate with the two months I’ve got till the end of the season to put in what I’ve got.
“The club and the youth and really looking forward to see what we’ll do next season. I’ve got nothing more in plan after ahead of April.”
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
