Marcelo Saragosa
Marcelo Saragosa (born 22 January 1982) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who currently serves as the Director of Soccer Operations for Austin Bold FC in the USL Championship.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcelo Saragosa | ||
| Date of birth | 22 January 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Campo Grande, Brazil | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Austin Bold | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2003 | São Paulo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2005 | São Paulo | 3 | (0) |
| 2004 | → Los Angeles Galaxy (loan) | 26 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 14 | (1) |
| 2006–2009 | FC Dallas | 54 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Chivas USA | 22 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | D.C. United | 24 | (1) |
| 2015 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 17 | (0) |
| 2019 | Austin Bold | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 160 | (3) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2019– | Austin Bold (Director of Soccer Ops) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of August 3, 2018 | |||
Career
Professional
Born in Campo Grande, Saragosa began his career with Brazilian team São Paulo, having signed with their youth team at the age of 13. He was sent on loan to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer in 2004 where he started in 24 of 26 games for the Galaxy. He then returned to São Paulo, before being signed to a permanent deal by the Galaxy in August 2005.
After starting in 10 of the first 15 games of the 2006 season for the Galaxy, Saragosa was traded to FC Dallas on July 19, 2006, in exchange for a fourth round supplemental draft pick in 2007. 2007 was a season riddled with injuries; he suffered a sprained right medial collateral ligament on April 14, 2007, which kept him out four weeks and appeared in only 13 games for FC Dallas before having surgery to repair a torn meniscus on September 25, 2007.
In 2008, Saragosa appeared in 25 games for FC Dallas and scored the second goal of his MLS career on October 18, 2008, in a 3–1 loss versus Real Salt Lake. Shortly before the last game of the regular season, Saragosa had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on October 21, 2008. Saragosa was traded to Chivas USA in exchange for Atiba Harris on July 17, 2009. While with Chivas Saragosa appeared in 22 league matches.
After the 2010 MLS season Chivas USA declined Saragosa's contract option and Saragosa elected to participate in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Saragosa became a free agent in Major League Soccer when he was not selected in the Re-Entry draft. In November 2010, Saragosa's blog announced he was suffering from cancer.[1]
On February 16, 2012, it was announced that Saragosa had returned to Major League Soccer signing with D.C. United.[2] Saragosa's club option declined following the 2013 season.[3]
After taking 2014 off, Saragosa signed with North American Soccer League side Tampa Bay Rowdies on February 3, 2015.[4] During an April 1 season kickoff event at the Mahaffey Theater, Saragosa was named captain of the 2015 Rowdies.[5] Saragosa was released by Tampa Bay in November 2015.[6]
On April 18, 2019, Austin Bold FC announced that Saragosa would be moving from his role as player to be the club's Director of Soccer Operations.[7]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| LA Galaxy (loan) | 2004 | MLS | 26 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |||
| LA Galaxy | 2005 | MLS | 4 | 1 | – | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |||
| 2006 | 10 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 14 | 1 | - | - | 12 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||||
| FC Dallas | 2006 | MLS | 7 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2007 | 13 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 0 | ||||||
| 2008 | 25 | 1 | – | – | 25 | 1 | ||||||
| 2009 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 54 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 0 | 56 | 1 | ||||
| Chivas USA | 2009 | MLS | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
| D.C. United | 2012 | MLS | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 4 | 0 | 22 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 30 | 2 | ||
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2015 | NASL | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 157 | 3 | - | - | 12 | 0 | 169 | 3 | ||||
Personal life
Saragosa's best friend is fellow Brazilian legend Kaká. They each served as best man at the other's wedding.[10]
Honours
Club
- Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2005
- Major League Soccer MLS Cup: 2005
- Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship: 2005
References
- "Cancer de Seno...Marcelo Saragosa". marcelosaragosa.blogspot.co.uk (in Spanish). Marcelo Saragosa. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- Saragosa acquired by United Archived 2012-02-12 at the Wayback Machine
- "D.C. United declines options on three players". D.C. United. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
- "Rowdies Bolster Roster With Addition of Midfielder Marcelo Saragosa". Tampa Bay Rowdies. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- "Marcelo Saragosa Appointed Captain of the Tampa Bay Rowdies". Tampa Bay Rowdies. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- "Rowdies Announce First Wave of Roster Moves | Tampa Bay Rowdies". Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
- "Austin Bold FC Sign Jamaican International Demar Philips and Other Roster Changes". AustinBoldFC.com. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- "Marcelo Saragosa". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- "Marcelo Saragosa". mlssoccer.com. MLS. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- "FC DALLAS UPDATES: AC Milan or Liverpool?". Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2009-07-17.