Dani García (footballer, born 1974)

Dani García
Personal information
Full name Daniel García Lara
Date of birth (1974-12-22) 22 December 1974
Place of birth Cerdanyola, Spain
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1985–1987 Masflorit Cerdanyola
1987–1990 Damm
1990–1993 Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1993–1995 Real Madrid B 71 (20)
1994–1998 Real Madrid 10 (0)
1995–1997 → Zaragoza (loan) 71 (8)
1998–1999 Mallorca 36 (12)
1999–2003 Barcelona 50 (12)
2004 Zaragoza 15 (3)
2004–2005 Espanyol 26 (5)
2005–2007 Olympiacos 19 (2)
2007 Denizlispor 11 (4)
2007–2008 Rayo Majadahonda 31 (8)
Total 340 (74)
National team
1991 Spain U16 4 (2)
1991 Spain U17 5 (2)
1993 Spain U18 7 (2)
1994–1996 Spain U21 14 (6)
1996–1997 Spain U23 7 (0)
1998–2000 Spain 5 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is García and the second or maternal family name is Lara.

Daniel 'Dani' García Lara (born 22 December 1974) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.

During his professional career he played for five different teams in his country, also having short spells in Greece and Turkey. Having represented both Real Madrid and Barcelona, he amassed La Liga totals of 208 games and 40 goals over the course of 12 seasons.

Club career

Born in Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Dani was a graduate of Real Madrid's youth system. He received his first-team debut on 5 February 1994, in a 2–0 home win over Deportivo de La Coruña; he played another match in the 1994–95 campaign, while still registered with the B-side.

Dani then spent two years on loan at Real Zaragoza, featuring prominently but without scoring success after which he returned to the Santiago Bernabéu. After a season with only eight appearances he was sold to fellow La Liga club RCD Mallorca, being the Balearic Islands team's top scorer in 1998–99 as it achieved a first-ever qualification to the UEFA Champions League; he also helped the team reach the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, where he scored to tie the game at 1–1, in an eventual 1–2 loss to S.S. Lazio.[1]

Subsequently, Dani signed for FC Barcelona: in the his first year he managed to net 11 La Liga goals (third-best in the squad) without being an undisputed starter,[2] but subsequent loss of form and injuries limited him to nine league games between 2001 to 2003;[3][4][5] on 18 April 2000 he scored a crucial goal at the Camp Nou, to help the club to the Champions League semifinals: trailing 3–4 on aggregate to Chelsea, he found the net with seven minutes left to send the tie to extra time, where his team scored a further two to progress.[6]

After spending the first months of the 2003–04 season unregistered and training on his own, Dani returned to Zaragoza in January 2004,[7] helping the Aragonese escape the relegation zone and win the 2004 edition of the Copa del Rey, netting against former team Real Madrid in an extra time success in Barcelona.[8] During his second stint with the club, he played with David Villa.

After one season with RCD Espanyol Dani switched to Greece's Olympiacos FC, where he teamed up with former Barça teammate Rivaldo[9] and then Turkish side Denizlispor. In July 2007 he returned to Madrid to settle with his family, and played for a few months with amateurs CF Rayo Majadahonda in Tercera División;[10] he retired from football after a handful of games then returned to Real Madrid, joining its Indoor soccer team.[11]

International career

Dani made his Spain national football team debut against Italy on a 18 November 1998 friendly match in Salerno (2–2),[12] and represented the country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Previously, he helped the under-17s win the UEFA European Championship (then under-16) in 1991, and finish runner-up at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the same year.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 May 1999 La Cartuja, Seville, Spain  Croatia 3–1 3–1 Friendly[13]

Honours

Club

Real Madrid
Mallorca
Barcelona
Zaragoza
Olympiacos

Country

Spain U16
Spain U17

References

  1. ↑ "El Mallorca pierde con orgullo" [Mallorca loses proudly] (in Spanish). El País. 20 May 1999. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Nano debuta en la Liga y Dani se estrena con un gol" [Nano makes League debut and Dani has scoring debut] (in Spanish). El País. 23 August 1999. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Dani's World Cup hopes dashed". UEFA.com. 23 January 2002. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  4. ↑ "Barça suffer Dani blow". UEFA.com. 13 September 2002. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  5. ↑ "Dani adds to Barça injury woe". UEFA.com. 3 March 2003. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  6. ↑ "Chelsea's European dream shattered". BBC Sport. 18 April 2000. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Dani allowed to go by Barça". UEFA.com. 30 January 2004. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  8. ↑ "Beckham misses out on Cup". BBC Sport. 17 March 2004. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "Olimpiacos complete Dani deal". UEFA.com. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  10. ↑ "Dani pasa de la Champions al Majadahonda" [Dani, from Champions League to Majadahonda] (in Spanish). Marca. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  11. ↑ "El poco 'fair play' de Dani García favorece al Madrid" [Dani García's little fair play favours Real Madrid] (in Spanish). Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  12. ↑ "Notable alto" [B Plus] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 19 November 1998. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "España vence a Croacia en la inauguración del Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla" [Spain defeats Croatia in la opening of Sevilla Olympic Stadium] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 6 May 1999. Retrieved 23 January 2016.

External links

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