Born in Perth, Garcia was a product of the West Ham United youth academy, moving from Australia to England to join the Hammers at the age of 15 after being spotted by a scout who had initially gone to watch his brother.

[8] He went out on loan to local side Leyton Orient in August 2000, making 21 appearances in League and Cup competitions and scoring four goals.

After West Ham were relegated to the First Division in 2003, Garcia featured a few more times for the first-team, but made only 16 league appearances for the club before moving on to Colchester United in 2004.

[9] Garcia signed for Colchester United in September 2004 for an undisclosed fee, and made his debut in the same month against Swindon Town.

[9] Despite the offer of a new deal at Colchester, Garcia signed a three-year contract with Hull City on 2 July 2007, on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.

[16] He made his league debut for Hull against Plymouth Argyle in August 2007 and scored his first goal in the next game in the 3–0 win over Crewe Alexandra.

Garcia started Hull's first top flight game against Fulham on 16 August 2008, and performed well in his favoured right wing position.

He made his return from injury in a 1–0 win over Coventry City on 10 December 2011 Garcia signed a one-year contract with A-League outfit Melbourne Heart FC on 23 August 2012.

[30] On 19 August 2008 he received his first senior international cap when he came on as a second-half substitute in the friendly against South Africa at Loftus Road in London.

On 13 June 2010, Garcia became the first Hull City player ever to play in the World Cup, by starting as a forward in Australia's 0–4 defeat to Germany in the group stage.