“I think it was the time for me to make this transition,” he said.
After seven years with the New York Cosmos, the past five as head coach—and three NASL titles to boot—the Venezuela-native Giovanni Savarese was announced as the new Portland Timbers head coach in December. On Monday, Savarese was introduced formally to Portland at a press conference at Providence Park.
Born in Caracas to Italian parents, Savarese later came to the United States on a soccer scholarship to play under legendary college coach Arnold Ramirez at Long Island University. After setting school records there, he played with the Long Island Rough Riders in the USISL—the precursor to the modern USL—and then became an MLS original after being selected by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars with the ninth overall selection of the MLS Inaugural Player Draft in 1996.