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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A Real Madrid star is stealing the show at the FIFA Club World Cup, just as FIFA would have wanted, but nobody would have expected Gonzalo García to be driving Los Blancos to glory in the United States. Kylian Mbappé's spectacular scissor kick goal in stoppage time in Saturday's 3-2 quarterfinal win against Borussia Dortmund will lead the Play of the Day clips, but Mbappé's goal gave Real Madrid a two-goal lead. García's first-half contribution was critical while the France forward was watching from the substitutes' bench. This isn't the first time in this competition that the youngster outshone his more celebrated teammates. García's first-half goal moved him alongside Benfica's Ángel Di María and Al Hilal's Marcos Leonardo at the top of the tournament's scoring charts with four goals. At the start of the tournament last month, if a Real forward was picked to win the Golden Boot, the leading candidates would have been Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, or even attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham. But García is in prime position to claim that prize going into Wednesday's semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain, especially with Di María and Leonardo eliminated from the Club World Cup. If García, 21, returns to Madrid with the Golden Boot, it will further emphasize the club's attacking options going into the new season. Yet, when the serious business of LaLiga and the UEFA Champions League begins for Madrid, a Golden Boot won during a heady summer in the U.S. might not help García's prospects of earning game time at the Santiago Bernabéu. Harsh, perhaps, but that's how it works at Real. The big stars -- Mbappé, Vini Jr., Bellingham -- are virtually guaranteed a starting spot, no matter which coach is in charge, and a Club World Cup Golden Boot won't transform García from a promising home-grown player into a Galactico. Apart from club legends Raúl and Emilio Butragueño, Real have a woeful record developing -- and then playing -- young strikers who have scored goals aplenty for the club's junior teams. Over the past 30 to 40 years, many young goal scorers have threatened to break through at Real, but their paths have been blocked by some of the game's biggest stars, such as Ronaldo Nazario, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Alvaro Negredo, Juan Mata, Jesé, José Callejón, Joselu, Pablo Sarabia and Roberto Soldado all showed promise in Real's youth teams, and some also for the B team Castilla, before heading elsewhere. So, the question hovering over García is whether he will take the same route or if he can break the mold and be more like Raúl and Butragueño. Before the Club World Cup, García had made six senior appearances for Real without scoring, but he has four goals in five games in the U.S., and also registered an assist, so he is grabbing his chance to impress. García also scored 30 goals in 73 appearances for Castilla, who play in Spain's third tier, but the Real first team is a serious step up from Castilla. Yet, at the Club World Cup, he has been more than a squad filler. He can score goals, has exceptional movement, great awareness, and, perhaps most importantly for recently arrived coach Xabi Alonso, works incredibly hard with and without the ball. Alonso has said that he wants more of that from Mbappé, a player whose work rate hasn't been near his talent level, and Alonso's faith in García during this tournament might be a ploy to make Mbappé realize what he must add to his game. Had Mbappé not been forced to miss Real's three group games after being hospitalized because of acute gastroenteritis last month, García might have spent this tournament watching from the bench, getting only brief minutes at the end of games. But instead, García has amassed 379 minutes from a possible 450 in five games and genuinely played his part. He has emerged as an unexpected star of the tournament. García will be competing against some serious talent, however. Mbappé, Vini Jr., Rodrygo and Endrick, the Brazilian teenager, will be in the mix for three attacking positions, so Alonso has a big decision when all are fit and available. But from his performances in this competition, García's stock has risen, and there will be a queue of clubs across Europe's big leagues that would gladly add him to their squad next season, either permanently or on loan. So, Real are in a win-win situation because García has made himself more valuable to the team on the pitch as well as to the club off it. But with Alonso in charge and ready to stamp his authority on the squad, García might have a future at Real that he wouldn't have had under previous coaches.
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