Greg Garza
Garza at an FC Cincinnati event in 2019
Personal information
Full name Gregory Martin Garza[1]
Date of birth (1991-08-16) August 16, 1991
Place of birth Grapevine, Texas, United States
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.72 m)
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
2005–2006 São Paulo
2007–2008 Dallas Texans
2008–2010 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Estoril Praia 3 (0)
2012–2017 Tijuana 66 (3)
2015 → Atlas (loan) 3 (0)
2017 → Atlanta United (loan) 26 (2)
2018 Atlanta United 11 (1)
2019–2020 FC Cincinnati 22 (0)
Total 131 (6)
International career
2011 United States U20 3 (0)
2014–2017 United States 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gregory "Greg" Martin Garza (born August 16, 1991) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a left-back.

Club career

Estoril Praia

Garza spent several years with Sporting Clube de Portugal's under-19 team, but he was not offered a contract with the senior squad.[2] As a result, he moved to Estoril Praia on a two-year contract in August 2010.[3]

Club Tijuana

Garza signed with Mexican Primera División side Club Tijuana on December 21, 2011.[4] Garza made his debut coming in as a sub in minute 73 for José Sand against Monarcas Morelia in a 1–1 tied game. He scored the first goal of his career for the club on October 13, 2012 in a 2–2 draw at Santos Laguna.[5]

Atlanta United

Greg Garza, Atlanta United September 10, 2017

In December 2016 it was announced that Garza had signed a one-year loan deal with newly formed side Atlanta United for the 2017 season.[6] Atlanta acquired Garza's MLS right from Columbus Crew SC in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.

On November 29, 2017, Atlanta announced that it had signed Garza to a permanent multi-year deal.[7] Greg Garza made $175,008 for the 2018 MLS Season.[8]

FC Cincinnati

On December 11, 2018, Atlanta United announced that the club had traded Garza to FC Cincinnati in exchange for $250,000 of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) and $200,000 of General Allocation Money (GAM) to be used toward the acquisition of new players.[9]

Retirement

On April 23, 2021, Garza announced his retirement from professional soccer at the age of 29. He cited his struggles with various injuries as the reason for his retirement. Since retirement, Garza maintains his connection with soccer through volunteering with local youth soccer clubs.[10] [11] In 2021 Garza founded a soccer mentoring organization, Beyond Goals Mentoring along with former Atlanta United teammate Michael Parkhurst.

International career

Garza was announced as part of the United States senior squad for a friendly against the Czech Republic on September 3, 2014. His first senior international cap was recorded during the match, being subbed on in the 62nd minute. He was capped-tied to the U.S. national team after his first competitive match in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup against Haiti, while starting and playing 67 minutes. But after the group stage he was traded out of the gold cup roster for DaMarcus Beasley as each team could make six changes if they advanced to the knockout round.

Personal life

Garza was born and raised in Texas but holds a Mexican passport by way of his father who was born in Mexico.[12]

Career statistics

As of March 17, 2018[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Estoril2010–11Liga de Honra 30—10—40
Tijuana2011–12Mexican Primera División 50———50
2012–13Liga MX 10270—40212
2013–14 190——60250
2014–15 30110——311
2016–17 20———20
Total 66380—100843
Atlas (loan)2015–16Liga MX 3020——50
Atlanta United (loan)2017Major League Soccer 262———262
Atlanta United2018Major League Soccer 20———20
Career total 1005100101001215

Honors

Tijuana

Atlanta United

References

  1. ↑ "40-Player National Team Roster: 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup: United States" (PDF). CONCACAF. p. 16. Retrieved May 21, 2019 – via Bernews.
  2. ↑ Barreira, Miguel (August 28, 2010). "Garza contratado". Jornal Record (in Portuguese). Cofina. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
  3. ↑ Leyden, Nick (August 31, 2010). "Garza Signs With GD Estoril-Praia". Yanks-Abroad.com.
  4. ↑ Tom Marshall (December 21, 2011). "Gringo Report: Garza joins the ranks with Club Tijuana". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. ↑ "American Exports: Bornstein plays, Garza gets first goal". MLSsoccer.com. October 14, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Atlanta United sign Greg Garza to one-year loan deal from Tijuana". ESPN FC. December 23, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Atlanta United sign Greg Garza to multi-year contract | Atlanta United FC". Atlutd.com. November 29, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  8. ↑ "MLS Players Salary Guide - MLS Players Association". MLS Players Association. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Atlanta United acquires $450,000 in Allocation Money for Greg Garza". www.atlutd.com. Atlanta United Communications. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  10. ↑ Robertson, Doug (April 23, 2021). "Former Atlanta United player Greg Garza retires". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  11. ↑ Robertson, Doug (March 5, 2021). "Bloom, Garza giving back to soccer through Georgia Alliance". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  12. ↑ Brian Sciaretta (December 22, 2011). "Garza excited for future in Tijuana". Yanks Abroad. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ↑ Greg Garza at Soccerway. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
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