Juan Carlos Garcia (#6) played for Honduras from 2009-14. (Photo: Mexsport)
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Former Honduras international Juan Carlos Garcia has passed away at 29-years-old after a battle with leukemia.
The left back earned 34 caps for Honduras, competing in the FIFA World Cup (2014: 2 games/0 goals), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (2009: 1/0; 2011: 4/0; 2013: 5/0) and the Copa Centroamericana (2011: 4/0).
Garcia’s professional career started with Marathon in 2007, before he moved to Olimpia in 2010. In July 2013, he joined England’s Wigan Athletic, but appeared in only one game (at Manchester City in the League Cup on September 24, 2013). Garcia was loaned to Spanish club Tenerife in August 2014, only to return to England the next February when he was diagnosed with the disease.
On February 6, 2013, Garcia’s acrobatic bicycle kick against the visiting United States in a CONCACAF qualifier for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was one of the best goals of the year.
The goal can be seen at the 3:00 minute mark in the video below:
