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HOUSTON - The Houston Dynamo has acquired Honduran international midfielder Oscar Boniek Garcia from CD Olimpia, the U.S. club announced Thursday, one of the first major transactions involving CONCACAF Champions League-bound teams.
The 27-year-old Garcia has played eight years for Olimpia over two stints, including the last five after a one-year stay with Marathon of Honduras, and has 67 appearances for the Honduran national team.
He has scored two goals in 15 games in the Champions League over four seasons with Olimpia, helping it to a quarterfinal appearance in 2011.
Garcia helped Olimpia to nine of their Honduran-record 25 league titles since first joining the club in 2003, including the most recent Apertura and Clausura crowns.
"Oscar is a good player and I have always liked him," Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said in a release from the club. "He is a versatile midfielder and a good athlete and should do well for us. He is a good signing for us and the league."
Houston is returning to the Champions League after a two-year absence, including reaching the quarterfinals in the tournament's inaugural season.
The Dynamo, which has the 12th-best record in Major League Soccer this season, and Olimpia will face each other in Group 3 of the Champions League along with CD FAS of El Salvador, placed together in Tuesday's draw. The fifth Champions League will begin July 31.
