 Sava in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Facundo Sava | ||
| Date of birth | (1974-03-07)7 March 1974 (age 51) | ||
| Place of birth | Ituzaingó, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft2+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sarmiento (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1996 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 80 | (9) |
| 1996–1997 | Boca Juniors | 7 | (0) |
| 1997–2002 | Gimnasia LP | 182 | (67) |
| 2002–2006 | Fulham | 27 | (6) |
| 2004–2005 | →Celta (loan) | 26 | (3) |
| 2005–2006 | →Lorca Deportiva (loan) | 38 | (7) |
| 2006–2008 | Racing Club | 66 | (29) |
| 2008–2009 | Arsenal de Sarandí | 21 | (3) |
| 2009–2010 | Quilmes | 21 | (4) |
| 2010 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 6 | (2) |
| Total | 474 | (130) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012 | San Martín SJ | ||
| 2013 | Unión de Santa Fe | ||
| 2014–2015 | O'Higgins | ||
| 2015 | Quilmes | ||
| 2016 | Racing Club | ||
| 2017 | Tigre | ||
| 2018 | Gimnasia LP | ||
| 2019–2021 | Quilmes | ||
| 2022 | Patronato | ||
| 2023 | Cerro Porteño | ||
| 2023 | Sarmiento | ||
| 2024 | Huracán | ||
| 2024–2025 | Atlético Tucumán | ||
| 2025– | Sarmiento | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Facundo Sava (born 7 March 1974) is an Argentinefootballmanager and former player who played as acentre forward. He is the current manager ofSarmiento.
Sava played 17 years of professional football, mainly representingGimnasia andRacing Club in theArgentine Primera División. Abroad, he had brief spells atFulham in thePremier League, andCelta Vigo andLorca Deportiva in Spain'sSegunda División in the early 2000s.
In 2012, Sava began managing, leading several clubs in his country's top flight including Racing and Gimnasia, as well asO'Higgins in theChilean Primera División andCerro Porteño in Paraguay. He won theCopa Argentina withPatronato in2022.
Sava started his career atFerro Carril Oeste in 1993. In 1996, he moved toBoca Juniors. A year later, he was sold on toGimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. In 2002, Sava was sold toFulham on a four-year deal for£2 million, having helped his teamcome second toClub Atlético River Plate.[1][2] He was the one signing made byFranco Baresi assporting director, while managerJean Tigana was on holiday.[3]
Sava made his debut on 6 July in theUEFA Intertoto Cup first round away toFC Haka in Finland, playing 60 minutes before beingsubstituted forBarry Hayles.[4] HisPremier League debut was on 17 August as the season began with a 4–1 home win overBolton Wanderers; he came on forLouis Saha with 12 minutes remaining.[5] In the next game a week later, again from the bench, he equalised in the last minute in a 2–2 draw atMiddlesbrough.[6]
On 23 November 2002, Sava scored once in each half of a 3–2 win overLiverpool atCraven Cottage.[7] Three days later, he failed to clear for the first goal and scored anown goal for the second, as Fulham lost 2–1 toHertha BSC in the fourth round of theUEFA Cup; he was openly criticised by Tigana for his performance.[8] During his time at Fulham, Sava celebrated goals by putting on a mask that he pulled from his sock; he explained that it came from his time at Gimnasia when fans threw masks onto the pitch.[9]
Affected by injury, Sava played only six games in 2003–04, scoring once forChris Coleman's team.[10]
On 27 August 2004, Sava was loaned toRC Celta de Vigo, newly relegated to the SpanishSegunda División and who had lost star strikerSavo Milošević.[10] He made his debut on 4 September as a substitute in a 1–0 home win overGimnàstic de Tarragona.[11] Twenty-two days later, he played the full match and scored his first goal in his fifth game, to open a 1–1 draw atReal Murcia; he contributed three goals in 26 games, mainly as a substitute, as the team returned toLa Liga as runners-up toCádiz CF.[12]
In 2005–06, Sava signed on loan for another team in Spain's second division,Unai Emery'sLorca Deportiva.[13] He contributed seven goals in 38 games to help towards a fifth-place finish; this included two on 20 November in a 4–0 home win overHércules CF.[14]
Sava was one of six Fulham players released in May 2006.[15] He then returned to his country's top flight, atRacing Club de Avellaneda.
In 2008, he joinedArsenal de Sarandí and, the following season, he helpedQuilmes Atlético Club achieve promotion to theArgentine Primera División. However, he did not stay with Quilmes in the Primera, instead returning to his first club, Ferro Carril Oeste, after 14 years.[16] With Ferro, he played 6 games in the2010–11 season of thePrimera B Nacional, before deciding to retire. He played his last game in an away draw againstClub Atlético Belgrano on 11 September 2010.[17]
On 23 April 2012, Sava took his first coaching job as the head coach atSan Martín de San Juan, having previously been the assistant.[18] He made his debut five days later, in a 1–0 home top-flight win overGodoy Cruz Antonio Tomba.[19] On 4 September, having lost all five games of thenew season, he was sacked.[20]
At the start of 2013, Sava succeededNery Pumpido atUnión de Santa Fe.[21] He kept his job after relegation, but was dismissed in December as the team fell out of the Nacional B play-off positions.[22]
In May 2014, Sava was appointed byChilean Primera División clubO'Higgins F.C. as the replacement for his compatriot,Eduardo Berizzo.[23] The following January, he was dismissed after a defeat atC.D. Universidad de Concepción.[24]
Sava was hired by his former team Quilmes in July 2015,[25] moving in December to replaceDiego Cocca at Racing Club for a 3 millionArgentine peso fee.[26] He made his debut on 4 February 2016 in his first continental game, a 2–2 draw atPuebla FC in Mexico for theCopa Libertadoresqualifying round,[27] eventually being eliminated 2–1 in the last 16 in May by Brazil'sClube Atlético Mineiro.[28] Club president Víctor Blanco confirmed Sava as manager for the rest of the calendar year,[29] but he left and was replaced byRicardo Zielinski before the new season.[30]
In March 2017, Sava was hired for two years atClub Atlético Tigre.[31] On 3 June, he announced his resignation following a 3–0 home loss toClub Atlético Vélez Sarsfield.[32] At the start of the new year, he returned to Gimnasia where he had left as a player 16 years earlier.[33] He left on 21 April, after achieving two wins and three draws from 12 games.[34]
Sava returned to Quilmes in December 2019.[35] In 2021, the team reached the promotion play-off final, losing on penalties toBarracas Central after a goalless draw on 21 December.[36]
In March 2022, Sava returned to the top flight, being hired byClub Atlético Patronato for the rest of the year.[37] He guided the team to theCopa Argentina, winning 2–1 at Gimnasia in the last 16, on penalties against River Plate in the quarter-finals, and on the same method against Boca Juniors in the semi-finals, before defeatingTalleres de Córdoba by a single goal in the final on 31 October.[38] Days later, he announced that he would not renew his contract.[39]
Sava moved to Paraguay as manager ofCerro Porteño on 12 February 2023,[40] but was sacked on 9 July.[41] On 27 October, he returned to his country's top flight on a 12-month deal replacingPablo Lavallén atClub Atlético Sarmiento,[42] but left on 28 November.[43]
On 30 December 2023, Sava was appointed manager ofHuracán,[44] but resigned the following 18 February.[45] On 3 March 2024, he took over fellow top-tier sideAtlético Tucumán.[46]
Sava resigned on 8 February 2025,[47] and took overSarmiento on 1 August.[48]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| San Martín SJ | 23 April 2012 | 4 September 2012 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 028.57 | [49] |
| Unión de Santa Fe | 1 January 2013 | 10 December 2013 | 40 | 9 | 18 | 13 | 022.50 | [49] |
| O'Higgins | 1 July 2014 | 21 January 2015 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 035.00 | [49] |
| Quilmes | 26 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 060.00 | [49] |
| Racing Club | 1 January 2016 | 16 August 2016 | 28 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 035.71 | [49] |
| Tigre | 27 March 2017 | 30 June 2017 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 028.57 | [49] |
| Gimnasia LP | 5 January 2018 | 21 April 2018 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 016.67 | [49] |
| Quilmes | 1 January 2020 | 31 December 2021 | 53 | 27 | 13 | 13 | 050.94 | [49] |
| Patronato | 7 March 2022 | 31 December 2022 | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 047.62 | [49] |
| Cerro Porteño | 13 February 2013 | 10 July 2013 | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 050.00 | [49] |
| Sarmiento | 27 October 2023 | 28 November 2023 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 025.00 | [49] |
| Huracán | 1 January 2024 | Present | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 050.00 | [49] |
| Total | 274 | 109 | 72 | 93 | 039.78 | [49] | ||