BRENT LATHAM – Former NY Red Bull midfielder Irving Garcia is in Guatemala training with first division side Antigua GFC, and planning to sign a one-year contract once his Guatemalan paperwork comes through.
Garcia is American-born to a Mexican father and Guatemalan mother, so he qualifies as a national player in those three countries. The UC Irvine product has been in Guatemala for a couple weeks, training under Antigua coach, American Ziggy Korytoski.
“I played at UC Irvine, so I played against the coach,” Garcia said. “He gave me a call and he offered me a good opportunity to play. I was just practicing on my own, so it was a chance to come down and play.”
Garcia is seen as creative No. 10 for Antigua, a club which just gained promotion last season from the Guatemalan third flight. The club owners have made significant investment for this year’s first division campaign, hoping to get to the top Guatemalan division, the Liga Mayor, right away.
“What I like about the club is that they have young players that go the whole game,” said Garcia. “It’s a little bit different than the regular Guatemalan teams.”
New Mexico native Garcia never featured for the Red Bulls in an MLS match despite showing a lot of promise coming out of college. He did see action in the US Open Cup last season before being cut in March. His small frame and offense-based game likely cost him the chance to stay in the league, but should fit in just fine in Guatemala.
“It was hard to get on the field, being in that club. The Red Bulls are a really big club over there,” he said. “It’s something I want to play at another level. The coach is giving the opportunity to get the rythym, and that’s what I need. Here in Guatemala you have more time to turn, to keep the ball. Up there it’s a lot of strong players and it’s a lot faster.”
Garcia joins a Scottish striker on Antigua’s list of foreign legionnaires, and Korytoski said he was in discussion about other USA-based players of Guatemalan descent as further reinforcements in the short term.
Irving’s from Yuma, AZ
That’s strange. He told me he was from NM. But I see he was born in AZ and went to school there for a while. Must have gotten crossed up somehow.
I remember seeing him in a few friendlies for NYRB, most notably against Juventus. He looked very good and reminded me of a young Mauro Camoranesi during his early days at Cruz Azul. Hard working, above average technical ability, good vision, and always looking for that killer pass. Unfortunate that no other MLS teams took an interest in him.