Scottish soccer power Celtic FC needs Emilio Izaguirre to recover from a knee injury as quickly as possible, but Honduras isn’t fretting over his health. It has Juan Carlos Garcia, after all.
Garcia scored an outrageous goal for Honduras on Wednesday to tie the score in a crucial 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the United States. Garcia’s bicycle kick beat U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard in the 40th minute, bringing the Americans’ short-lived lead to a close.
Garcia, who started at left fullback in Izaguirre’s absence, was only in the U.S. box for a corner kick. The delivery went too long, but a teammate chased it down and crossed it back into the goalmouth. That pass reached Jerry Bengtson at the far post, and the Revolution striker headed it in Garcia’s direction.
The unmarked Garcia jumped, flipped, swung his feet at the ball and made perfect contact on the shot. Howard could do little to stop it, and the crowd at Estadio Olimpico in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, went berserk — a fitting reaction to a goal of that quality.
The goal tied the score at 1-1, but Honduras added another in the second half to claim a 2-1 victory.
Garcia, 24, plays for Honduran power Olimpia where he competes in Liga Nacional de Honduras and the CONCACAF Champions League. It’s a far cry from the spotlight of the UEFA Champions League that Izaguirre and Celtic enjoy, but it may not be long before Garcia makes the jump to a European club as many of his celebrated countrymen have done before.
See Garcia’s bicycle-kick goal in the video below.
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