Giovanni Savarese

Deportivo Italia

Savarese made his professional debut at 15, with Venezuelan club Deportivo Italia during the 1986–87 season. He remained with the club through the 1988–89 season, scoring six goals that year.

Move to the United States

In 1990, Savarese moved to the United States to play college soccer at LIU Brooklyn, while joining the storied amateur club Greek American AA of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League during the long collegiate off-season. He became one of the top scorers in school history with LIU Brooklyn, scoring 50 goals for the Blackbirds in his career.

Long Island Rough Riders

After college, Savarese signed with the Long Island Rough Riders of the USISL along with future MLS stars Tony Meola and Chris Armas, winning the league championship in 1995, a season in which he was also named league MVP.

MetroStars

Drafted by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the 9th round of the MLS Inaugural Player Draft, Savarese scored the first goal in club history in its inaugural match against the LA Galaxy on 13 April 1996. Savarese proved a prolific scorer during the 1996 season, scoring the next seven goals for the club and cementing his place in the team sheet. He 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. His record for league goals was broken in 2009 by Juan Pablo Angel. Savarese became a fan…

New York Red Bulls

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.

New York Cosmos

In August 2010, Savarese joined the New York Cosmos as Cosmos Academy director, with a focus on developing youth talent in New York in preparation for the club's return to professional competition. The Cosmos announced the promotion of Savarese to head coach on 19 November 2012. He quickly signed Long Island native Carlos Mendes as the modern club's first player in preparation for the team's debut in the North American Soccer League's 2013 Fall season. On 3 August 2013, the Cosmos defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 2–1 in the team's first professional match. During the 2013 season, Savarese led the Cosmos to an undefeated record at home and winners of the Fall season title with an overall record of 31 points from 14 games. The Cosmos would cap the season with an appearance in the Soccer Bowl 2013, where they defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks 1–0. In 2014, Savarese managed the Cosmos to second place in the 2014 Spring season, finishing behind Minnesota United FC by just one point. The Cosmos also took part in the U.S. Open Cup with Savarese leading the team to a convincing 3–0 fourth-round win over the New York Red Bulls in New York City's first-ever…

Born in Venezuela, Savarese is of Italian descent. He earned 30 caps for Venezuela, scoring ten goals – including three in FIFA World Cup qualifiers. His most notable goal was against Argentina in 1996.