Giovanni Savarese
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Savarese is a former Venezuela
n football (soccer)
player of Italian
descent who is best known for his stay with New York/New Jersey MetroStars
of Major League Soccer
.
to play college soccer
at Long Island University
. That year, he also joined the Greek American AA
of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League
which he played for during the collegiate off-season. After college, Savarese joined the Long Island Rough Riders
of the USISL and combined with future MLS stars Tony Meola
and Chris Armas
to lead the team to the 1995 USISL Championship. He was drafted by the MetroStars in the 9th round of the MLS Inaugural Player Draft
and scored the team's lone goal in its first-ever game, a 2:1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy
on April 13, 1996. Savarese would go on to score the first eight goals in team history (not counting an own goal by a Tampa Bay Mutiny
player in the same game that Gio scored from a bicycle kick
).
Savarese spent three seasons with the MetroStars, scoring a then-team record 41 goals and 94 points in league play and 44 goals, also a record, and 101 points in all competitions. Giovanni Savarese held the record with the most goals in Metrostars history with 44 goals until in 2009 Juan Pablo Angel broke that record. He became a huge fan favorite, despite coming off the bench for long stretches of time. He was traded to the New England Revolution
amid large fan outcry before the 1999 season and scored 10 goals for the Revs that year. He left MLS to sign for Italian club Perugia
in 2000, but never played for the Serie A
team as they loaned him out to Serie C1
club Viterbese
.
Gio returned to MLS later in 2000, signing with the San Jose Earthquakes
in mid-season but went scoreless with them in four games. Savarese then departed for Europe once again, this time signing with Welsh
club Swansea City
of England
's Football League Second Division
. He would go on to score 13 goals for the Swans in all competitions.
Savarese's vagabond career continued, as he played one game for English club Millwall
and then went back to his native Venezuela to play for Deportivo Italchacao
. After becoming an assistant coach at St. John's University, he tried out with the MetroStars in 2003, but failed to make the team. He would play one game for Italian Serie C club Sassari Torres
, and then re-sign with the Rough Riders (then in the USL Pro Soccer League
) in 2004, scoring five goals with the team that first put him on the US soccer map. In 2005, he returned to the MetroStars as the head of their youth development, a position he served in with re-branded New York Red Bulls through 2007. He is no longer affiliated with New York Red Bulls. He is now a commentator for Thursday night soccer on ESPN Deportes. He continues to coach youth teams in New York.
In August 2010, Giovanni joined the New York Cosmos
in the role of Director of the Cosmos Academy with a focus on developing youth talent in New York.
.
3 of those goals were in world cup qualifiers.
His most notable goal was against Argentina.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
descent who is best known for his stay with New York/New Jersey MetroStars
Red Bull New York
The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The team competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...
of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
.
Club career
In 1990, Savarese moved to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to play college soccer
College soccer
College soccer is a term used to describe association football played by teams who are operated by colleges and universities as opposed to a professional league operated for exclusively financial purposes...
at Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
. That year, he also joined the Greek American AA
Greek American AA
Greek American Atlas Astoria, commonly known as New York Greek American, is a soccer team from New York City that formed in 1941 by Tom Laris and went on to win four U.S. Open Cups. The team plays in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. Their reserve team is the Greek-American Atlas Reserves FC. The...
of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League
Cosmopolitan Soccer League
The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is an amateur soccer league consisting of clubs based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and has contributed greatly to the nation's soccer history...
which he played for during the collegiate off-season. After college, Savarese joined the Long Island Rough Riders
Long Island Rough Riders
Long Island Rough Riders is an American soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League , the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.The team plays its...
of the USISL and combined with future MLS stars Tony Meola
Tony Meola
Antonio Michael "Tony" Meola is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played for the United States national team at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and from 1996 to 2006 played in Major League Soccer, the U.S. top soccer division, where he obtained multiple honors...
and Chris Armas
Chris Armas
Chris Armas is a retired American soccer player. He is currently the head women's soccer coach at Adelphi University. He was also a teacher of physical education at St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, New York.-College:Armas is of Puerto Rican descent...
to lead the team to the 1995 USISL Championship. He was drafted by the MetroStars in the 9th round of the MLS Inaugural Player Draft
1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft
The MLS Inaugural Player Draft, held before Major League Soccer's initial 1996 season, distributed players who had already graduated from college to the league's ten inaugural teams. The draft occurred on February 6 and 7, 1996...
and scored the team's lone goal in its first-ever game, a 2:1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy
The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...
on April 13, 1996. Savarese would go on to score the first eight goals in team history (not counting an own goal by a Tampa Bay Mutiny
Tampa Bay Mutiny
The Tampa Bay Mutiny was a charter franchise of Major League Soccer active from 1996 - 2001. They initially played in Tampa Stadium and were immediately successful, winning the first MLS Supporters' Shield behind MLS MVP Carlos Valderrama and high-scoring forward Roy Lassiter, whose 27 goals in...
player in the same game that Gio scored from a bicycle kick
Bicycle kick
A Bicycle kick or Scissor kick is a physical move made by throwing the body up into the air, making a shearing movement with the legs to get one leg in front of the other without holding on to the ground. The move can either be done backwards or sideways...
).
Savarese spent three seasons with the MetroStars, scoring a then-team record 41 goals and 94 points in league play and 44 goals, also a record, and 101 points in all competitions. Giovanni Savarese held the record with the most goals in Metrostars history with 44 goals until in 2009 Juan Pablo Angel broke that record. He became a huge fan favorite, despite coming off the bench for long stretches of time. He was traded to the New England Revolution
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional association football club based in Foxborough, Massachusetts which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...
amid large fan outcry before the 1999 season and scored 10 goals for the Revs that year. He left MLS to sign for Italian club Perugia
Perugia Calcio
Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio is an Italian association football club based in Perugia, Umbria, direct heir of the old Perugia Calcio and A.C. Perugia, excluded from Italian football because of financial troubles....
in 2000, but never played for the Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
team as they loaned him out to Serie C1
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
club Viterbese
A.S. Viterbese Calcio
Associazione Sportiva Viterbese Calcio is an Italian association football club, based in Viterbo, Lazio. The club was founded in 1908 and refounded in 2004 as A.S. Viterbo Calcio, but changed its name back during the 2005–06 season. Viterbese currently plays in Serie D. The team's colors are yellow...
.
Gio returned to MLS later in 2000, signing with the San Jose Earthquakes
San Jose Earthquakes
The San Jose Earthquakes professional soccer team is located in the San Jose, California, United States suburb of Santa Clara, and participates in Major League Soccer , the top level soccer league in the United States and Canada....
in mid-season but went scoreless with them in four games. Savarese then departed for Europe once again, this time signing with Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
club Swansea City
Swansea City A.F.C.
Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
's Football League Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
. He would go on to score 13 goals for the Swans in all competitions.
Savarese's vagabond career continued, as he played one game for English club Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
and then went back to his native Venezuela to play for Deportivo Italchacao
Deportivo Italia
Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C.", the club after fifty years merged with "Deportivo Chacao F.C." in 1998, and was called Deportivo Italchacao for eight years...
. After becoming an assistant coach at St. John's University, he tried out with the MetroStars in 2003, but failed to make the team. He would play one game for Italian Serie C club Sassari Torres
Sassari Torres 1903
Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Società di Educazione Fisica Torres 1903 is an Italian association football club, based in Sassari, Sardinia...
, and then re-sign with the Rough Riders (then in the USL Pro Soccer League
USL Second Division
The United Soccer Leagues Second Division was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, part of the United Soccer Leagues league pyramid...
) in 2004, scoring five goals with the team that first put him on the US soccer map. In 2005, he returned to the MetroStars as the head of their youth development, a position he served in with re-branded New York Red Bulls through 2007. He is no longer affiliated with New York Red Bulls. He is now a commentator for Thursday night soccer on ESPN Deportes. He continues to coach youth teams in New York.
In August 2010, Giovanni joined the New York Cosmos
New York Cosmos
The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history...
in the role of Director of the Cosmos Academy with a focus on developing youth talent in New York.
National team
Savarese scored 4 goals in 23 caps for the Venezuela national teamVenezuela national football team
The Venezuela national football team is the national football team of Venezuela and is controlled by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. It is nicknamed La Vinotinto , because of the traditional burgundy color of their shirts....
.
3 of those goals were in world cup qualifiers.
His most notable goal was against Argentina.