Giovanni Savarese (born July 14, 1971) is a Venezuelan football manager and former player, who is the head coach for the Portland Timbers. Club career Professional Breakthrough 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 Long Island University Brooklyn, while joining the storied amateur club Greek-American Atlas of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League during the long collegiate off-season. He became one of the top scorers in school history with LIU, scoring 50 goals for the Blackbirds in his career. 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 MetroStars and cementing his place in the team sheet. Savarese 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 favorite, despite coming off the bench for long stretches of time. He was traded to the New England Revolution before the 1999 season and scored 10 goals for the Revs that year. Additional Clubs Departing MLS to sign for Serie A club Perugia in early 2000, Savarese spent his first stint in Europe loaned to Serie C club Viterbese for half a season, without being recalled to the Italian top division. He returned to MLS later in 2000 as a mid-season signing for the San Jose Earthquakes, but failed to score in four appearances that year. His luck improved after returning to Europe with Welsh club Swansea City in the English Second Division, tallying 14 goals across all competitions. Savarese briefly transferred to Millwall before returning to his native Venezuela and