Having been plagued by injuries in recent times, Trinidad and Tobago’s Levi Garcia recently made a return to competitive action for his club AEK Athens and is now eagerly looking forward to representing the Soca Warriors in their bid for Copa America qualification.
Garcia, who only featured in five previous games for reigning Greek champions AEK Athens this season, made a brief appearance in the club’s 1-1 stalemate away to AE Kifisia in the Super League on Saturday.
With that blow out run now under his belt, the 25-year-old, who assisted AEK to the Greek double last season when he scored 18 goals across all competitions, said he is working his way back to peak form, as he intends to do what he does best, give his all for both club and country.
"I have been working really hard lately to get fit so things have been going well," Garcia told T&T Newsday.
Garcia missed Trinidad and Tobago’s four group stage matches in the Concacaf Nations League, as they placed second in Group A of League A, which secured them a spot in the upcoming quarterfinals of the tournament.
The pacy attacker is hoping his Soca Warriors teammates can continue the steady work as he continues to work his way back to full fitness.
"It’s been really good to see the guys performing and hopefully we can continue to do positive things for ourselves and future players,” Garcia stated.
Angus Eve’s Trinidad and Tobago outfit are set to contest a pivotal Nations League quarterfinals encounter against the United States, the first away on November 16, with their home leg at the Hasely Crawford Stadium falling on Garcia's 26th birthday on November 20.
With the prospect of qualification for Copa America 2024 in the air, Garcia is ready for the grand occasion.
"It's a big game against the US and we're all looking forward to it. I think everyone is (optimistic about our chances of qualifying for the Copa America 2024). That will be a great platform to showcase ourselves but first we need to take it one game at a time,” he noted.
The four teams advancing from the quarterfinals will qualify for both the Nations League semi-finals and the Copa tournament. The four losing quarterfinalists will have a second opportunity to qualify for Copa 2024 through a single-match, direct elimination play-off in March next year.