University of Sports He has two foreign centre-backs in his squad for the 2023 season: Williams Riveros and Matías Di Benedetto. Despite doubts and successes, both players still have a long way to go to win the affection of the majority of Creme fans. In this sense, the memory of one of the last foreign defenders to pass through the club comes to mind. He was there for more than a year and was the undisputed starter, but he couldn’t convince the “U” fans: Braynner Garcia.
Braynner García is a Colombian footballer who joined Universitario for the 2015 season as a new signing. The defender has enjoyed a long and even streak at Junior de Barranquilla and important achievements at Cúcuta Deportivo. In fact, García is the most victorious player in the history of the Rojinegros: champion of promotion in 2005, of the finalizing tournament in 2006 and Primera B again in 2018.
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Braynner García and his time at the university
After a disastrous 14th place in the Apertura, the “U” recovered in the Clausura after the arrival of Roberto Chale and the great level of Raúl Ruidíaz. In this way, the season was “saved” with a narrow qualification for the Copa Sudamericana. Among the biggest mistakes of the year was the question of foreign reinforcements and Braynner García was one of the most questioned mistakes despite establishing himself as a regular throughout the season.
In that sense, García was the only one of the newcomers who had a constant presence in the team. Carlos Grossmüller was also a regular player, but left the club in the middle of the season. Henry Giménez, Maximiliano Giusti and an underperforming Líber Quiñones reflected Universitario’s poor year, both on and off the field. In this regard, the Colombian defender sat down in the back rows along with “Che” Horacio Benincasa.
Horacio Benincasa and Braynner García were Universitario’s first centre-backs in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Photo: GLR archives
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Braynner García’s performance did not improve in 2016 and the club again failed to provide a good alternative: Uruguayans Diego Rodríguez and John Galliquio played very little, allowing the García-Benincasa duo to prevail once again. Years later, the Colombian wrote on his Instagram that he was aware of his level in the “U”, but that those two years coincided with a difficult moment in his life: his mother’s cancer.
What happened to Braynner Garcia?
Braynner García returned to Colombian football in 2017 to bolster his beloved Cúcuta Deportivo. His return to his loved ones’ team and his country was big: he donned the captain’s armband and won his third title in 2018 by becoming Premier League champions.
The former Universitario defender played another season in the premier league and managed to qualify for the final homers in the 2019 finalizing tournament.
His last team was Unión Magdalena, with whom he only played two games for the 2020 Copa Colombia. García was not able to retire as he wished in Cúcuta Deportivo, but on November 6, 2022 he fulfilled the beautiful dream of wearing his shirt one last time : in the so-called “The Eternal Captain’s Farewell”.
Their farewell game took place at the General Santander stadium in the presence of the fans and various idols of the club.
Braynner García was dismissed in style at the stadium of his beloved Cúcuta Deportivo. Photo: The Opinion
Since that exciting event, Braynner García has been far from media attention in Colombia. However, it is known that it was in his plans not to leave the world of football. More than a year ago he published a photo on his Instagram with a diploma certifying that he had acquired the combined B and A license as a trainer before the FCF. “One of my first steps as a technical director is to add and acquire knowledge,” he wrote.