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Mark OgdenJul 5, 2025, 07:42 PM ET
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A Real Madrid prima is stealing the amusement astatine the FIFA Club World Cup, conscionable arsenic FIFA would person wanted, but cipher would person expected Gonzalo García to beryllium the subordinate that is driving Los Blancos to glory successful the United States.
Kylian Mbappé's spectacular scissor footwear extremity successful stoppage clip successful Saturday's 3-2 quarterfinal win against Borussia Dortmund was the infinitesimal that volition pb the Play of the Day clips, but the necktie had already been won by that signifier and that was down to García's first-half publication portion the France guardant was watching from the substitutes' bench.
Not for the archetypal clip successful this competition, the youngster outshone his much celebrated teammates, and a first-half extremity from Fran García's transverse moved him alongside Benfica's Ángel Di María and Al Hilal's Marcos Leonardo astatine the apical of the scoring charts successful the tourney with 4 goals.
At the commencement of the tourney past month, if a Real guardant was going to triumph the Golden Boot, the starring candidates would surely person been Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, oregon adjacent attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham.
But García is successful rod presumption to assertion that prize going into Wednesday's semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain, particularly with Di María and Leonardo some present eliminated from the Club World Cup, and if the 21-year-old does alert backmost to Madrid aft the tourney with the Golden Boot tucked into his luggage, it volition lone further stress the club's attacking options going into the caller season.
Yet erstwhile the superior concern of LaLiga and the UEFA Champions League begins for Madrid, a Golden Boot won during a heady summertime successful the U.S. whitethorn number for small erstwhile it comes to García's prospects of earning crippled clip astatine the Santiago Bernabéu.
Harsh, perhaps, but that's however it works astatine Real. The large stars -- Mbappé, Vini Jr., Bellingham -- are virtually guaranteed a starting spot, nary substance which manager is successful charge, and a Club World Cup Golden Boot won't alteration García from a promising home-grown subordinate into a Galactico.
Apart from nine legends Raúl and Emilio Butragueño, Real person a woeful grounds erstwhile it comes to processing -- and past playing -- young strikers who person scored goals aplenty for the club's inferior teams.
Over the past 30 to 40 years, a agelong database of young extremity scorers person threatened to marque the breakthrough astatine Real, lone to spot their way blocked by immoderate of the game's biggest stars, specified arsenic Ronaldo Nazario, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Alvaro Negredo, Juan Mata, Jesé, José Callejón, Joselu, Pablo Sarabia and Roberto Soldado each showed committedness successful Real's younker teams, immoderate besides for the B squad Castilla, earlier having to instrumentality their talents elsewhere.
So the question hovering implicit García is whether helium volition yet beryllium headed down the aforesaid way oregon if helium tin interruption the mould and beryllium much similar Raúl and Butragueño.
Before the Club World Cup, García had made six elder appearances for Real without scoring, but helium has present scored 4 goals successful 5 games successful the U.S, and besides registered an assist, truthful helium is grabbing his accidental to impress.
García besides scored 30 goals successful 73 appearances for Castilla, who play successful Spain's 3rd tier, truthful helium knows however to find the backmost of the net, but the Real archetypal squad is simply a superior measurement up from Castilla.
Yet astatine the Club World Cup, helium has shown himself to beryllium much than a squad filler. He tin people goals, helium has exceptional movement, large awareness, and, possibly astir importantly for recently-arrived manager Xabi Alonso, helium works incredibly hard with and without the ball.
Alonso has publically stated that helium wants much of that from Mbappé, a subordinate whose work-rate has ever been obscurity adjacent his endowment level, and his religion successful García during this tourney mightiness conscionable beryllium a deliberate ploy to marque Mbappé recognize what helium indispensable adhd to his game.
Had Mbappé not been forced to miss Real's 3 radical games after being hospitalized by acute gastroenteritis past month, García mightiness person spent this tourney watching from the bench, getting lone little minutes astatine the extremity of games.
But instead, helium has clocked up 379 minutes from a imaginable 450 successful 5 games and genuinely played his part. He has emerged arsenic an unexpected prima of the tournament.
He has immoderate superior endowment to vie with, however. Mbappé, Vini Jr., Rodrygo and Endrick, the Brazilian teenager, volition each beryllium successful the premix for 3 attacking positions, truthful Alonso has a large determination to marque erstwhile each are acceptable and available.
But from his performances successful this competition, García volition person seen his banal emergence and determination volition present beryllium a queue of clubs crossed Europe's large leagues who would gladly adhd him to their squad adjacent season, either permanently oregon connected loan.
So Real are successful a win-win concern due to the fact that García has made himself much invaluable to the squad connected the transportation arsenic good arsenic to the nine disconnected it.
But with Alonso successful complaint and acceptable to stamp his authorization connected the squad, García mightiness conscionable person a aboriginal astatine Real that helium wouldn't person had nether erstwhile coaches.
