Javier Saviola

Javier Saviola
	At his official presentation as a Benfica player at the Estádio da Luz
Personal information
Full name	Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Benfica
Number	30
Senior career*
Years	Team
1998–2001	River Plate
2001–2007	Barcelona
2004–2005	→ Monaco (loan)
2005–2006	→ Sevilla (loan)
2007–2009	Real Madrid
2009–	Benfica
International career‡
2001	Argentina U20
2001–	Argentina
Medal record
Representing Argentina
Olympic Games
Men's football
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 December 2009 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:21, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández (born 11 December 1981) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a striker for Benfica in the Portuguese League.

Known for his speed and ability to score from almost any position, he is also an Argentine international, and was named, as the youngest player, to Pelé's FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers. Saviola also holds Spanish nationality.

Club career

River Plate

Nicknamed El Conejo (The Rabbit), Saviola made his debut for River Plate at the age of 16, and went on to be a prolific goalscorer for the club. He helped River to the 1999 Apertura and 2000 Clausura championships, and earned the 1999 South American Footballer of the Year award. Still only 18, he gained a reputation as a phenomenol prospect.

Barcelona

In 2001, aged 19, Saviola moved abroad to play for Barcelona in a £15 million transfer.^[1] He obtained Spanish citizenship shortly after, thereby not being restricted by the Spanish league maximum on the number of non-European Union citizens allowed in each club. Under coach Louis van Gaal, he scored 17 goals in his first season, finishing third best scorer in the league.

His second year at the club did not start well, as he only scored two goals in the first half of the season. When van Gaal was fired and Radomir Antić became the new Barcelona manager, Saviola went on to score 11 goals in the latter half of the campaign. At the start of the following season, Frank Rijkaard was appointed as new manager, and Saviola scored 14 goals in the league alone, but was deemed surplus at the club, as was longtime offensive partner Patrick Kluivert.

Saviola was sent on loan the following year, moving to Monaco in the French first division championship in the summer 2004. As he did not fit into Rijkaard's plans, Saviola was again loaned out in the summer of 2005, this time to Spanish club Sevilla, in order to replace Júlio Baptista, on the move to Real Madrid. At Sevilla, Saviola won his first title in Europe, when the club won the 2006 UEFA Cup — he also scored nine times in the league, good enough for fifth.

Saviola returned to Barcelona for the 2006–07 season, playing in 18 league games (six as a starter) and scoring five goals. He benefited greatly from injuries to teammates, most notably to Samuel Eto'o, and added five in as much games in that season's domestic cup, notably a hat-trick against Deportivo Alavés (3–2 win at home, 5–2 aggregate).^[2]

Real Madrid

On 10 July 2007, Real Madrid signed Saviola after his Barcelona contract expired, on a three-year deal.^[3] Although on a financially lucrative contract, he endured a difficult time at Real. He was mainly restricted to cup matches and sporadic appearances (mainly as a substitute) in the league and the Champions League. The arrival of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar limited his opportunities even more, and Saviola finished his Real Madrid spell with five goals in 28 overall appearances.

Benfica

On 26 June 2009, Benfica and Real Madrid agreed on a €5 million deal that would see Saviola play in Portugal for the next three years, with an option for one more; a €30 million clause was added. Saviola scored his first goal for the club on a penalty in a friendly match against Sion and, on 16 July 2009, Saviola scored twice to put his team to the Guadiana tournament trophy finals. On 22 October, Saviola scored a further two goals for Benfica, guiding them to a 5–0 victory over Everton. On 26 October, he scored another two over Nacional. On 5 November, Saviola scored one goal in a 2–0 win over Everton in the UEFA Europa League. Saviola scored another goal in the Europa League on 2 Decembe to help Benfica beat BATE 2–1. On 12 December, Saviola scored on a chip shot against Académica de Coimbra, where Benfica won 4–0. He then scored again against freshly-promoted Olhanense in a 2–2 draw. Already a fan favourite, on 20 December, he scored a single winning goal against Benfica's main rival FC Porto in a 1–0 victory.

On 3 January 2010, he scored another winning goal against CD Nacional, but the single winning goal trend had not finished yet: On January 9 2010 he led Benfica to a 1-0 win over Rio Ave scoring on the 46 minute. He scored 16 goals in 25 games until now, 8 of them in the league.On January 17 2010 Saviola scored the first goal when Benfica beat Maritimo 5-0 in the league. Saviola has now scored in the last seven games that he has played. On February third Saviola set up a goal and scored one in a 3-0 win over União de Leira. Making his total goal tally 18 goals overall and ten in the league.

International career

Saviola starred in the 2001 edition of the World Youth Cup, held in Argentina. He was top scorer and was voted player of the tournament, as the national team won the competition. With 11 goals in seven games, he became the record goal-scorer in World Youth Cups history. His vintage performance earned himself many offers from European clubs but, surprisingly, he lost his place in the Argentina national football team squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in favour of veterane Claudio Caniggia.

Two years later, Saviola played in the 2004 Olympic Games and won the Olympic gold medal. Under coach Marcelo Bielsa, Saviola was given few playing opportunities for Argentina, but after Bielsa's resignation in 2004, new coach José Pekerman, who also coached the player at youth level, gave him more playing time with the A's.

Saviola was called up to represent Argentina at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Luciano Figueroa and winger Luciano Galletti were also in contention for a place on the roster, but Saviola's excellent form for Sevilla secured his place in the squad. He made his presence felt at the tournament, as he scored a goal against Côte d'Ivoire in Argentina's opening game, and made two assists in the 6–0 victory against Serbia and Montenegro.

Club statistics

Club	League	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
Club	League	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
River Plate	Primera División	1998–99	20	7			-		-
		1999–00	31	17			-		-
		2000–01	35	20			-		-
		Total	86	44			-		-
FC Barcelona	La Liga	2001–02	32	17	1	0	-		11	4	44	21
		2002–03	36	13	1	0	-		14	7	51	20
		2003–04	33	14	5	2	-		7	3	45	19
		Total	101	44	7	2	-		32	14	140	60
AS Monaco	Ligue 1	2004–05	30	8	0	0	1	0	7	4	37	12
AS Monaco	Ligue 1	Total	30	8	0	0	1	0	7	4	37	12
Sevilla FC	La Liga	2005–06	30	9	0	0	-		13	5	43	14
Sevilla FC	La Liga	Total	30	9	0	0	-		13	5	43	14
FC Barcelona	La Liga	2006–07	18	5	5	5	-		1	0	24	10
FC Barcelona	La Liga	Total	18	5	5	5	-		1	0	24	10
Real Madrid	La Liga	2007–08	9	3	6	0	-		2	0	17	3
		2008–09	7	1	2	1	-		2	0	11	2
		Total	16	4	8	1	-		4	0	28	5
SL Benfica	Portuguese Liga	2009–10	30	19	2	1	1	1	7	6	40	27
SL Benfica	Portuguese Liga	Total	30	19	2	1	1	1	7	6	40	27
Career total			265	121	22	9	2	1	64	29	353	160
Last Update: 2 January 2010