Álvaro Saborío


Álvaro Alberto Saborío Chacón is a Costa Rican former professional footballer, who played as a forward. Saborío originally retired in 2017 but returned months later.
A full international for Costa Rica since 2002, Saborío has over 110 caps and 36 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.

Club career

Saborío is a product of C.F. 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, 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. Saborio 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 ; 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, Saborío was made Salt Lake's first ever Designated Player, signing a four-year contract with the club on 1 December 2010.
Saborío became the club's all-time leading scorer, and their key target man. As of 5 May 2012, Saborío had scored 38 goals across all competitions, eight 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 16 July 2015, Saborío was traded to D.C. United for Luis Silva. He scored his first goal for United on 26 July 2015, against the Philadelphia Union. On 2 October 2015, Saborío scored a stoppage time winner against New York City FC to clinch United a spot in the 2015 MLS Playoffs.
Saborío re-signed with United on 17 November 2015.
On 14 November 2016, Saborío announced that he was to leave United after two seasons. He played 31 games, scored 10 goals, and contributed 10 assists for D.C. United.

Deportivo Saprissa

On 10 January 2017, Saborío signed a one-year contract with Deportivo Saprissa. On 9 February 2017, Saborío announced his retirement due to conflicts with Saprissa fans.

San Carlos

Saborío was a leading figure in San Carlos' double championship: first in the second division, and once in the first division, they won the Torneo de Clausura for the 2018-2019 season.

International career

Saborío was an important player for the Costa Rica national team at numerous levels. He represented the U-23 team at the 2004 Olympics, scoring the qualifying goal that took them there, and subsequently started three of four games for the team, scoring a goal against Portugal.
Saborío made his senior debut for Costa Rica in an October 2002 friendly match against Ecuador and has, as of October 2021, earned a total of 112 caps, scoring 36 goals, placing him third 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 number of goals he 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 the side, behind Rónald Gómez and former Manchestet City forward Paulo 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 quarterfinals 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 successful 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.

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 statistics

Club

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
17 September 2003FIU Stadium, Miami, United States1–02–0Friendly
219 November 2003Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica2–12–1Friendly
312 June 2004Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana, Cuba2–12–22006 FIFA World Cup qualification
44 September 2005Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama1–03–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
57 September 2005Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica1–02–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification
69 November 2005Stade d'Honneur de Dillon, Fort-de-France, Martinique1–02–3Friendly
711 February 2006Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States1–01–0Friendly
82 September 2006Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland1–02–2Friendly
92 September 2006Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland2–22–2Friendly
1024 March 2007Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica1–04–0Friendly
1124 March 2007Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica4–04–0Friendly
1221 June 2008Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica1–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
1320 August 2008Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica1–01–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.3 June 2009Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica1–03–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
156 June 2009Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Trinidad and Tobago1–13–22010 FIFA World Cup qualification
1627 June 2009Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica1–01–0Friendly
1719 July 2009Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States2–05–12009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1819 July 2009Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States4–15–12009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1910 October 2009Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica3–04–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2010 October 2009Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Tibás, Costa Rica4–04–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
213 September 2010Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama2–22–2Friendly
2226 March 2011Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica1–02–2Friendly
235 June 2011Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States2–05–02011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
248 June 2012Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica1–02–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2512 June 2012Providence Stadium, Providence, Guyana1–04–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2612 June 2012Providence Stadium, Providence, Guyana2–04–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2712 June 2012Providence Stadium, Providence, Guyana3–04–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2816 October 2012Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica4–07–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2916 October 2012Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica7–07–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
306 February 2013Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama1–22–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3115 October 2013Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica2–12–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
325 March 2014Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica2–02–1Friendly
3310 October 2014Sohar Regional Sports Complex, Sohar, Oman1–04–3Friendly
3413 November 2014Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay1–03–3Friendly
3531 March 2015Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panamá City, Panama1–21–2Friendly
3624 June 2019Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States1–01–22019 CONCACAF Gold Cup