Óscar García Junyent

Óscar García Junyent (born 26 April 1973), known simply as Óscar as a player, is a Spanish retired footballer, and the current manager of Austrian club FC Red Bull Salzburg.
As a player he was a versatile offensive option, able to play as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He played most of his 14-year professional career with Barcelona, with relative impact, appearing for four other clubs.
In La Liga Óscar amassed totals of 169 games and 31 goals over the course of 12 seasons, also representing Espanyol (four seasons), Albacete, Lleida and Valencia (one apiece). In 2009, he started working as a manager, winning league titles in Israel and Austria.

Born in Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia, Óscar made his professional debut with FC Barcelona, his local team. Between 1992 and 1994 he played in five La Liga matches for Barça who were champions each year and, after a loan at fellow top division club Albacete Balompié, he returned and was often used (with good results) in a variety of offensive roles: during the 1995–96 season he scored ten league goals, the most in the squad, even though he only started 11 of his 28 appearances; the team came out empty in silverware, however.

With his role gradually diminishing, Óscar joined Valencia CF for one season, finishing off with Barcelona neighbours RCD Espanyol (teaming up again with brother Roger, for three seasons) and UE Lleida and retiring in June 2005 at the age of 32. On 7 January 2001, whilst playing for the second club against CD Numancia, he was taken to hospital after swallowing his tongue; in the following summer, he nearly signed for West Ham United, but an eventual deal fell through after a one week's trial and he returned to Espanyol, with whom he never scored more than one goal per season, during four years.

For Spain, Óscar appeared for the nation at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, netting twice for the eventual quarterfinalists.

In late 2009, Óscar joined former Barcelona coach Johan Cruyff's coaching staff in the Catalonia national team, as the Dutchman had just been appointed. On 22 May 2012 he had his first head coach appointment, signing a two-year contract with Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. Exactly one year later, after leading the club to the national championship after a ten-year drought, he resigned from his post, citing personal reasons.

On 26 June 2013, Óscar was unveiled as the new head coach of Football League Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion. His first win came on 17 August, 1–0 at Birmingham City. On 12 May 2014, following Brighton's play off semi-final defeat to Derby County, his offer of resignation was accepted by the board.

On 2 June 2014, Óscar returned to Maccabi by signing a two-year contract, but left the club on 26 August due to political tensions. Three months later he was appointed at Watford, replacing Giuseppe Sannino.

On 15 September 2014, Óscar was admitted to hospital with minor chest pains, forcing him to miss Watford's upcoming match with Blackpool. These health problems eventually led to him stepping down, two weeks later.

On 28 December 2015, Austrian double holders FC Red Bull Salzburg hired Óscar following the dismissal of Peter Zeidler. His team, for which fellow Spaniard Jonathan Soriano was the main striker, ended the season as national champions; on 19 May the latter scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 cup final win over FC Admira Wacker Mödling to seal a double.

Óscar's brothers, Roger and Genís, were also footballers. All youth products of Barcelona, they had however different fates as professionals (especially the latter).

As of 17 December 2016

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
Maccabi Tel Aviv		22 May 2012	22 May 2013	7001360000000000000♠36	7001250000000000000♠25	7000500000000000000♠5	7000600000000000000♠6	7001694400000000000♠69.44
Brighton & Hove Albion		26 June 2013	12 May 2014	7001530000000000000♠53	7001210000000000000♠21	7001160000000000000♠16	7001160000000000000♠16	7001396209999900000♠39.62
Maccabi Tel Aviv		2 June 2014	26 August 2014	7000200000000000000♠2	7000100000000000000♠1	7000100000000000000♠1	5000000000000000000♠0	7001500000000000000♠50.00
Watford		2 September 2014	29 September 2014	7000400000000000000♠4	7000100000000000000♠1	7000200000000000000♠2	7000100000000000000♠1	7001250000000000000♠25.00
Red Bull Salzburg		28 December 2015	Present	7001540000000000000♠54	7001350000000000000♠35	7001100000000000000♠10	7000900000000000000♠9	7001648100000000000♠64.81
Total				7002149000000000000♠149	7001830000000000000♠83	7001340000000000000♠34	7001320000000000000♠32	7001557000000000000♠55.70

Player

Club

Barcelona

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97
• UEFA Super Cup: 1992, 1997
• La Liga: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98
• Supercopa de España: 1992, 1996

Valencia

• Supercopa de España: 1999

Country

Spain U-21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Runner-up 1996; Third-place 1994

Manager

Maccabi Tel Aviv

• Israeli Premier League: 2012–13

Red Bull Salzburg

• Austrian Bundesliga: 2015–16
• Austrian Cup: 2015–16

• "Italia ya ganó un Europeo a España en el 1996" [Italy has already won European Championships against Spain in 1996] (in Spanish). Orgullo Bianconero. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.