Sal Zizzo

Youth and amateur

Zizzo attended Patrick Henry High School, where he played soccer and baseball. As a baseball center fielder, he was a four-year letterman and voted first-team All-CIF his junior year. He also excelled in soccer, he was voted All-CIF honors four years straight (2002–05). He played club soccer for Hotspurs USA (El Cajon, CA), and was a member of his region's Olympic Development Program (ODP) team. Zizzo then went on to play two years of college soccer at UCLA. At UCLA he was an NCSAA/adidas All-American as a freshman in 2005. Zizzo was also selected as Pac10 Freshman Player of the Year the same year. In 2006, UCLA reached the College Cup vs. Santa Barbara in St. Louis. He finished his career at UCLA with 43 appearances, eight goals, and 14 assists. During his college years he also played two seasons with senior amateur team Orange County Blue Star in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

left college early and turned professional in July 2007 after a successful U20 World Cup in Canada for the United States. signed to Bundesliga club Hannover 96, for a three-year contract. Zizzo made his Bundesliga debut for Hannover on May 10, 2008, in a match against Werder Bremen. In October 2009, Zizzo suffered an ACL injury and missed the entire 2009–10 season. During his stay at the club he was a regular starter for the reserve side, Hannover 96 II, appearing in 45 league matches and scoring 8 goals.

On July 21, 2010, Chivas USA acquired…

As of October 7, 2017

Zizzo holds both American and Italian citizenship, as both his parents were born in Palermo, Sicily. This helped with negotiating a contract in Europe with Hannover 96. In November 2013 Zizzo married Destiny Moniz. They have three daughters and one son, Capri Kalei born April 27, 2015, Aeri Elalia born on January 6, 2017, Zuri Meadow born June 29, 2018, and Massi Kailo born June 19, 2021.