Cándido García

Cándido García (2 December 1895 – 22 April 1971) was an Argentine footballer who played as centre-half. García spent his entire career at River Plate, where he played from 1913 to 1927 winning three titles.

Cándido García

Personal information
Date of birth	(1895-12-02)2 December 1895
Date of death	22 April 1971(1971-04-22) (aged 75)
Position(s)	Centre-half
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1913–1927	River Plate		(42)
International career
1915–1923	Argentina	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

García also played six matches for the Argentina national football team from 1915 to 1923.[1] He was also part of Argentina's squad for the 1916 South American Championship.[2]

Nicknamed Cabeza de Oro ("golden head") due to his skills to head the ball,[3][4] García is regarded for having scored the first official goal in the history of Superclásico v Boca Juniors, on 24 August 1913 at Racing Stadium. River was the winner by 2–1.[3] According to journalists of his time, García's high accuracy to score goals by heading the ball in corner kicks forced rivals to avoid conceding corner kicks.[5]

During his entire career, García played a total of 364 matches, scoring 42 goals.[3]

More spectacular than Olazar and (Ernesto) Sande when their fame spreaded all over the country, Cándido García raised in River Plate to complete the formidable trilogy of porteños of the time. He was not notable for his skills with feet although he had abilities to play, and like Sande, his physical did not respond to his enthusiasm, but García was a total spectacle himself because of his play with the head. His head, infallible to defend his goal, was also a temible weapon when his team attacked (...) I have not seen a footballer that equaled Cándido García scoring goals with his head in corner kicks, despite there were fearsome men like Olazar, (Guillermo) Dannaher, Seoane and Cherro.[4]

— Sports journalist Alfredo Rossi (Chantecler) about García's style of play.<ref>Originally published on El Gráfico, 1938