Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 8y

David Silva gave cup winners' medal to Man City youngster Manu Garcia

MANCHESTER -- Manchester City youngster Manu Garcia has revealed how David Silva gave him his Capital One Cup winners' medal.

Garcia, who made his first start for the club in the FA Cup defeat to Chelsea in February, travelled to Wembley with the first team but was the outfield player to miss out on being part of Pellegrini's 18-man squad, meaning he missed out on a medal.

After celebrating the penalty shootout victory over Liverpool on the pitch with his teammates, Garcia joined the first team in the winning dressing room where Silva handed him his own winners' medal.

Garcia told reporters: "He asked me if they gave me one and I said 'no' and he immediately took his off and gave it me. So that was amazing.

"He's really good with me, he's always trying to give me advice and he was really happy for me to do well against Chelsea. I'm just thankful for him."

Garcia made his first appearance for City in the League Cup as a late substitute in the third round win over Sunderland and scored in the 5-1 fourth-round victory over Crystal Palace. And he admitted he was thrilled to be invited to join in the postmatch celebrations at Wembley.

He said: "It was a bit crazy. I was with the squad, I didn't get selected. I was in the stands watching the game then I went onto the pitch to celebrate and stuff. It was unbelievable. My first time at Wembley. I loved the atmosphere, I loved the final, the way everyone shows their interest for the football is amazing and obviously to win and be around the team was great.

"I'm a bit shy obviously because I haven't played a lot for them. I train with them most of the time. I was singing with them a bit -- I'm a bit shy but they were trying to get me involved. They were class, absolutely class."

It capped a memorable eight days for Garcia. He made his full debut at Stamford Bridge on Feb. 24, and 24 hours later he travelled with the first team to Ukraine for the Champions League first-leg tie with Dynamo Kiev.

Garcia was one of six teenagers to start in the 5-1 defeat to Chelsea and said it was a thrill to be handed his debut and to play against his hero Cesc Fabregas.

"It was a great experience. We couldn't believe in the first half -- it was a bit mad [when it was] 1-1 at half-time," he added. "We tried to do our best and I think we did quite well all the youngsters. And I'm just thankful as well to Manuel Pellegrini to put us on -- it was an amazing experience.

"It was crazy to walk out with Cesc and shake hands with him -- it is something I've been dreaming about since I was five or six years old. I've seen Cesc playing World Cup finals and he's a big idol for me obviously."

The youngster admits his first-team opportunities could be restricted until the end of the season with players returning to full fitness but he insists he will be ready if City boss Pellegrini gives him the call again.

"It's going to be harder now because all the players are getting back fit because the club needs to win cups and needs to have all the best players in the team," he said. "But I keep looking forward to being around them as much as possible and playing for the under-18s and EDS [Elite Development Squad] as much as possible."

^ Back to Top ^