Godoy Cruz fans flocked to pay tribute to their idol, while the circumstances of his death opened up one of football s most sensitive debates: how the sport must care for its employees mental, as well as physical health.
Garcia grew up in the Barrio Colon neighbourhood on the impoverished fringes of Montevideo, and as a youngster was snapped up by Uruguayan giants Nacional, the same club that produced Luis Suarez.
In 2008, two years after Suarez had left Montevideo for the Netherlands, a 17-year-old Garcia marked his first-team debut with a goal against Defensor Sporting, and quickly became a prodigious scorer for his boyhood club.