Playing position Role Footballer Number 9 Height 1.83 m | Years Team Weight 77 kg Name Alvaro Saborio Salary 350,000 USD (2012) | |
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Full name Alvaro Alberto Saborio Chacon Date of birth (1982-03-25) 25 March 1982 (age 33) Spouse Nancy Sotto (m. 2007–2009), Carolina Quesada Similar People Bryan Ruiz, Celso Borges, Junior Diaz, Cristian Gamboa, Esteban Alvarado Profiles | ||
HAT TRICK: Real Salt Lake's Alvaro Saborio nets 3 goals in win over Portland Timbers
Álvaro Alberto Saborío Chacón ([ˈalβaɾo saβoˈɾi.o]; born 25 March 1982) is a retired Costa Rican footballer, who last played for Saprissa in Costa Rican Primera División.
Contents
- HAT TRICK Real Salt Lakes Alvaro Saborio nets 3 goals in win over Portland Timbers
- lvaro Saboro Last Minute Goal vs New York City 2 1 02102015
- Club career
- Deportivo Saprissa
- FC Sion
- Bristol City
- Real Salt Lake
- DC United
- International career
- International goals
- Personal life
- Career league statistics
- Club
- National Team
- Individual
- References
A full international for Costa Rica since 2002, Saborío has over 100 caps and 35 goals for the nation, whom he represented at five CONCACAF Gold Cups, in addition to one tournament each at the Olympics, FIFA World Cup and Copa América.
Álvaro Saborío Last Minute Goal vs New York City 2-1 (02/10/2015)
Club career
Saborío is a product of CF Monterrey's youth system. He played with the club's reserve team in the Segunda División de México and with affiliate Coyotes de Saltillo in the Primera A.
Deportivo Saprissa
Saborio began his professional career with Saprissa in his native Costa Rica. He made his Costa Rican Primera División debut against Limonense on 8 August 2001. Saborío was the leading goal-scorer of the 2003–2004 Costa Rican season, finishing the year with 25 goals, five above Whayne Wilson.
With Saprissa, he has won a league title and a CONCACAF Champions Cup, and was part of the team that played the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup, where Saprissa finished third behind São Paulo and Liverpool. At the tournament, he scored two goals and ended up tied with three other players for top scoring honors.
FC Sion
He moved to Swiss Super League outfit FC Sion after playing for Costa Rica at the 2006 World Cup. He formed a good partnership at FC Sion with Poland's Zbigniew Zakrzewski.
His performances in Switzerland reportedly caught the eye of Stoke City's manager Tony Pulis who aimed to sign him in the summer of 2009, however he instead joined Bristol City on loan.
Bristol City
Saborío played his first game for Bristol City in a Championship match on 13 September against Coventry City making an impact by setting up fellow striker Nicky Maynard. Saborío also picked up his first yellow card in English football as the match ended in a 1–1 draw. Soborio scored his first goal for Bristol City in their 1–1 draw with Scunthorpe United.
He left Bristol City and his contract was terminated with FC Sion in February 2010 so that he could return to Costa Rica.
Real Salt Lake
Saborío signed with Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake in March 2010. He made a huge impact in his first season in Salt Lake: RSL boasted the highest-scoring offense in MLS in 2010 (45 goals); Saborío led the way with a team-high 12 tallies. For his efforts, he earned the MLS Newcomer of the Year award. He also starred for the club in the CONCACAF Champions League tournament, scoring eight goals as Real Salt Lake advanced to the championship round.
After a successful first season at the club, Soborío was made Salt Lake's first ever Designated Player, signing a four-year contract with the club on 1 December 2010.
Since joining RSL, Saborío has become the club's all-time leading scorer, and been their key target man. As of 5 May 2012 Saborío has scored 38 goals across all competition. Including 8 of them coming from CONCACAF Champions League play.
On 18 November 2013 Saborío was named FutbolMLS.com's Latino del Año.
Saborío scored a goal in the 52nd minute of the 2013 MLS Cup on 7 December. His goal was equalized by Aurélien Collin in the 76th minute. He later missed his penalty kick when the game went into a penalty kick shoutout, in which Sporting Kansas City won.
D.C. United
On July 16, 2015, Saborío was traded to D.C. United for Luis Silva.
On November 14, 2016, Saborío announced that he was to leave United after two seasons.
Deportivo Saprissa
On January 10, 2017, Saborío signed a one-year contract with Deportivo Saprissa. On February 9, 2017, Saborío announced his retirement due to conflicts with Saprissa fans.
International career
He is also an important player for the Costa Rica national football team at numerous levels. He represented the U-23 team at the 2004 Olympics, scoring the qualifying goal that took them there, and subsequently starting three of four games for the team, scoring a goal against Portugal.
He made his senior debut for Costa Rica in an October 2002 friendly match against Ecuador and has, as of July 2015, earned a total of 103 caps, scoring 35 goals, placing him 3rd at his country's all-time goalscorers list behind Rolando Fonseca and Paulo Wanchope.
Saborío, better known as Pipe, has been notably recognized for his accomplishments with Deportivo Saprissa, and the high amount of goals he has scored in a short period. But after a year at the club his Costa Rican coach got a hold of him and he took part in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was mostly a substitute for Costa Rica national football team, behind Rónald Gómez and former Man City forward Paulo César Wanchope. He also scored the first goal ever in the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, in the inaugural match against China. Saborío was at the centre of much controversy in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, criticized heavily for his misses, including two penalty kicks in the quarter final against Honduras, and for a training pitch incident where he allegedly kicked a ball at a child who was in the stands.
Saborío scored eight times in Costa Rica's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, including a hat-trick in a 4–0 away win over Guyana on 12 June 2012, and a further two goals on 16 October in a 7–0 win over the same opponents. On 12 May 2014 Saborío was named to Costa Rica's 30-man preliminary roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. However, on 29 May, the Costa Rican Football Federation confirmed that Saborío had broken the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot during a training session with the national team and would subsequently miss the World Cup.
Saborío was in Costa Rica's squad for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and earned his 100th cap on 11 July at the BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, assisting Bryan Ruiz's goal in a 1–1 Group B draw with El Salvador; he was the fifth Costa Rican to make one hundred appearances.
International goals
Scores and results list. Guadeloupe, to whom Saborío scored twice, are not FIFA members.Personal life
A son of former Costa Rica international Álvaro Grant MacDonald and Marlene Saborío, Saborío can speak four languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.
Saborío holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.
Career league statistics
Updated on 19 February 2017, includes CONCACAF Champions League statistics for MLS years