1. Giovanni Savarese was born on July 14,1971 and is a Venezuelan football manager and former player.
23 Facts About Giovanni Savarese
1. 2.
Giovanni Savarese last served as the head coach for the Portland Timbers.
3.
In 1990, Giovanni Savarese moved to the United States to play college soccer at Long Island University Brooklyn, while joining the storied amateur club Greek-American Atlas of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League during the long collegiate off-season.
4.
Giovanni Savarese became one of the top scorers in school history with LIU, scoring 50 goals for the Blackbirds in his career.
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Giovanni Savarese proved a prolific scorer during the 1996 season, scoring the next seven goals for the MetroStars and cementing his place in the team sheet.
6.
Giovanni Savarese spent three seasons with the MetroStars, setting the long-standing club record for career goals in league play at 41, as well as the club scoring record across all competitions at 44.
7.
Giovanni Savarese became a fan favorite, despite coming off the bench for long stretches of time.
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On January 20,1999, Giovanni Savarese was traded to the New England Revolution along with a second-round pick in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft in exchange for Raul Diaz Arce.
9.
Giovanni Savarese made an immediate impact on his new club, scoring his first goal in the first match of 1999 season, against the Miami Fusion on March 28.
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In total, Giovanni Savarese would make 27 appearances for the Revolution in 1999, recording 10 goals and 2 assists, second in scoring only to Joe-Max Moore.
11.
Giovanni Savarese returned to MLS later in 2000 as a mid-season signing for the San Jose Earthquakes, but failed to score in four appearances that year.
12.
Giovanni Savarese's luck improved after returning to Europe with Welsh club Swansea City in the English Second Division, tallying 14 goals across all competitions.
13.
Giovanni Savarese briefly transferred to Millwall before returning to his native Venezuela and signing for his boyhood club Deportivo Italia, then renamed Deportivo Italchacao.
14.
Giovanni Savarese re-joined the MetroStars organization in 2005 as head of the club's successful youth development program, maintaining his role with through the Red Bull ownership transition before a philosophical conflict with the new management heralded his firing in March 2007.
15.
Giovanni Savarese quickly signed Long Island native Carlos Mendes as the modern club's first player in preparation for the team's debut in the NASL's 2013 Fall season.
16.
In 2014, Giovanni Savarese managed the Cosmos to second place in the Spring season, finishing behind Minnesota by just 1 point.
17.
In 2015, Giovanni Savarese led the Cosmos to an undefeated Spring, earning the title for the first half of the season.
18.
Giovanni Savarese's club defeated Indy Eleven on penalty kicks in the 2016 NASL Championship Final, despite scheduling conflicts which forced the club to host the match at Belson Stadium in front of just 2,150 fans.
19.
Giovanni Savarese took it upon himself to leverage his network of contacts to find new teams for his former players.
20.
On December 13,2017, the Cosmos announced that Giovanni Savarese would leave the club "to pursue other coaching opportunities".
21.
On December 18,2017, Giovanni Savarese was announced as the head coach of the Portland Timbers, the third head coach in their MLS history.
22.
Under Giovanni Savarese, Portland made the postseason four times in five full seasons, including losses in MLS Cup 2018 and 2021.
23.
Giovanni Savarese worked as a soccer analyst for ESPN International and ESPN Deportes.