Álvaro Saborío facts for kids

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Álvaro Saborío

Saborío playing for D.C. United in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Álvaro Alberto Saborío Chacón
Date of birth	(1982-03-25) 25 March 1982 (age 43)
Place of birth	Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Monterrey B
	Coyotes de Saltillo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2006	Saprissa	149	(95)
2006–2010	Sion	87	(36)
2009–2010	→ Bristol City (loan)	19	(2)
2010	→ Real Salt Lake (loan)	27	(12)
2011–2015	Real Salt Lake	100	(51)
2015–2016	D.C. United	31	(10)
2017	Saprissa	4	(1)
2018–2022	San Carlos	125	(62)
2020	→ Alajuelense (loan)	18	(6)
2023	San Carlos	8	(2)
International career‡
2004	Costa Rica U23	15	(13)
2002–2021	Costa Rica	112	(36)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:37, 21 March 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2021

Álvaro Alberto Saborío Chacón (born March 25, 1982) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer. He played as a forward, which means he was usually one of the main attackers on the team. Saborío briefly retired from playing in 2017 but returned to the field months later.

He played for the Costa Rica national team from 2002 to 2021. During his time with the national team, Saborío played in over 110 matches and scored 36 goals. He also represented his country in five CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments, the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, and the Copa América.

Club Career Highlights

Álvaro Saborío started his football journey in the youth system of C.F. Monterrey. This means he trained and played with their younger teams. He also played for their reserve team and an affiliate club called Coyotes de Saltillo.

Playing for Deportivo Saprissa

Saborío began his professional career with Saprissa in his home country, Costa Rica. His first game in the Costa Rican Primera División was on August 8, 2001. He quickly became a star player. In the 2003–2004 Costa Rican season, Saborío was the top goal-scorer, netting 25 goals.

With Saprissa, he helped the team win a league title and a CONCACAF Champions Cup. He was also part of the team that played in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship. In this big tournament, Saprissa finished third, and Saborío scored two goals, making him one of the top scorers.

Moving to FC Sion

After playing for Costa Rica in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Saborío moved to FC Sion, a team in the Swiss Super League in Switzerland. He played well there, forming a strong partnership with Polish player Zbigniew Zakrzewski.

Time with Bristol City

In 2009, Saborío joined Bristol City in England on a loan. He played his first game for them on September 13 against Coventry City. He made an immediate impact by helping his teammate Nicky Maynard score. Saborío scored his first goal for Bristol City in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe United.

He left Bristol City in February 2010 and his contract with FC Sion ended, allowing him to return to Costa Rica.

Success with Real Salt Lake

Saborío at a "Meet the Players" event for Real Salt Lake in 2010

In March 2010, Saborío signed with Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake in the United States. He made a huge difference in his first season. Real Salt Lake had the highest-scoring offense in MLS that year, and Saborío led the team with 12 goals. Because of his great performance, he won the MLS Newcomer of the Year award. He also scored eight goals for the club in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League tournament, helping Real Salt Lake reach the championship round.

After his successful first year, Saborío became Real Salt Lake's first ever "Designated Player." This rule allows MLS teams to sign a few players to higher salaries outside of the normal salary cap. He signed a four-year contract with the club in December 2010.

Saborío became the club's all-time leading scorer and a key player for their attack. By May 2012, he had scored 38 goals for the club across all competitions. In November 2013, he was named FutbolMLS.com's Latino del Año, an award for the best Latino player in MLS.

He scored a goal in the 2013 MLS Cup final in December. However, his team lost the game in a penalty kick shootout.

Playing for D.C. United

In July 2015, Saborío was traded to D.C. United, another MLS team. He scored his first goal for United on July 26, 2015. In October 2015, he scored a winning goal in the final moments of a game against New York City FC, which secured D.C. United a spot in the 2015 MLS Playoffs.

Saborío signed again with United in November 2015. He left the club in November 2016 after two seasons. He played 31 games for D.C. United, scoring 10 goals and helping with 10 assists.

Return to Deportivo Saprissa

On January 10, 2017, Saborío signed a one-year contract to play for Deportivo Saprissa again. However, on February 9, 2017, he announced his retirement due to disagreements with some Saprissa fans.

Time with San Carlos

Saborío later became a very important player for the San Carlos team. He helped them win two championships: first in the second division, and then in the first division, they won the Torneo de Clausura for the 2018-2019 season.

International Career

Saborío was a very important player for the Costa Rica national team at different levels. He played for the Under-23 team in the 2004 Olympics. He even scored the goal that helped them qualify for the Olympics. He started three out of four games there and scored a goal against Portugal.

Saborío played his first senior game for Costa Rica in October 2002. As of October 2021, he had played in 112 matches and scored 36 goals for his country. This places him third on Costa Rica's all-time goalscorers list.

Saborío, also known as Pipe, is well-known for his achievements with Deportivo Saprissa and for scoring many goals quickly. He was part of the Costa Rica team that played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He often came on as a substitute in those games. He also scored the very first goal in the new Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in its opening match against China.

Saborío scored eight goals during Costa Rica's successful journey to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This included scoring three goals in one game (a hat-trick) against Guyana in June 2012. He scored two more goals against the same team in October. In May 2014, Saborío was chosen for Costa Rica's preliminary team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. However, he unfortunately broke a bone in his left foot during a training session and could not play in the World Cup.

Saborío was part of Costa Rica's team for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. On July 11, he played his 100th game for his country, becoming the fifth Costa Rican player to reach this milestone.

Personal Life

Álvaro Saborío is the son of former Costa Rica international player Álvaro Grant MacDonald and Marlene Saborío. He is very good with languages and can speak Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English.

Saborío has a U.S. green card. This means he is considered a domestic player for MLS teams, which helps with team rules.

Career Statistics

Club Appearances and Goals

International Goals

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Saborío goal.

List of international goals scored by Álvaro Saborío

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 September 2003	FIU Stadium, Miami, United States	China	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2	19 November 2003	Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica	Finland	2–1	2–1
3	12 June 2004	Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana, Cuba	Cuba	2–1	2–2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	4 September 2005	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Panama	1–0	3–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	7 September 2005	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica	Trinidad and Tobago	1–0	2–0
6	9 November 2005	Stade d'Honneur de Dillon, Fort-de-France, Martinique	France	1–0	2–3	Friendly
7	11 February 2006	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States	South Korea	1–0	1–0
8	2 September 2006	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Austria	1–0	2–2
9				2–2
10	24 March 2007	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica	New Zealand	1–0	4–0
11				4–0
12	21 June 2008		Grenada	1–0	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	20 August 2008		El Salvador	1–0	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.	3 June 2009		United States	1–0	3–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15	6 June 2009	Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago	1–1	3–2
16	27 June 2009	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica	Venezuela	1–0	1–0	Friendly
17	19 July 2009	Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States	Guadeloupe	2–0	5–1	2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
18				4–1
19	10 October 2009	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica	Trinidad and Tobago	3–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
20				4–0
21	3 September 2010	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Panama	2–2	2–2	Friendly
22	26 March 2011	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica	China	1–0	2–2
23	5 June 2011	Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States	Cuba	2–0	5–0	2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
24	8 June 2012	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica	El Salvador	1–0	2–2	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
25	12 June 2012	Providence Stadium, Providence, Guyana	Guyana	1–0	4–0
26				2–0
27				3–0
28	16 October 2012	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica		4–0	7–0
29				7–0
30	6 February 2013	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Panama	1–2	2–2	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
31	15 October 2013	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica	Mexico	2–1	2–1
32	5 March 2014		Paraguay	2–0	2–1	Friendly
33	10 October 2014	Sohar Regional Sports Complex, Sohar, Oman	Oman	1–0	4–3
34	13 November 2014	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay	1–0	3–3
35	31 March 2015	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panamá City, Panama	Panama	1–2	1–2
36	24 June 2019	Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States	Haiti	1–0	1–2	2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honours and Awards

Álvaro Saborío has won many awards and championships throughout his football career:

Saprissa

• Liga FPD: 2003–04, Apertura 2005, Clausura 2006
• CONCACAF Champions League: 2005
• Copa Interclubes UNCAF: 2003

Sion

• Swiss Cup: 2009

Real Salt Lake

• Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship: 2013

San Carlos

• Liga FPD: Clausura 2019
• Liga de Ascenso: 2017–18

Alajuelense

• Liga FPD: Apertura 2020

Costa Rica

• Copa Centroamericana: 2013

Individual Awards

• MLS Newcomer of the Year: 2010
• CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament Team: 2009

See also

In Spanish: Álvaro Saborío para niños

• List of footballers with 100 or more caps