Gastón Sauro (born 23 February 1990) is an Argentine

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Club Atlético Sarmiento Club Atlético Sarmiento is an Argentine sports club based in Junín, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The club currently competes in Primera División, the top division of the Argentine football league system. Founded in 1911 and affiliated ...

Career

Boca Juniors

Sauro made his professional debut with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

during the 2008–09 season.

FC Basel

On 6 July 2012 it was announced that Sauro had signed a four-year contract with Swiss club

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

. He joined Basel's first team during their 2012–13 season under head coach

Heiko Vogel Heiko Vogel (born 21 November 1975) is a German football manager who is the current sporting director and interim coach of FC Basel. Vogel grew up in Wachenheim and played football for his local clubs TuS Wachenheim and FC 08 Hassloch. Later he ...

. After appearing in one test game Sauro played his club debut on 17 July in the 2–0 away win against

Flora Tallinn FC Flora, commonly known as Flora Tallinn, or simply as Flora, is a professional Football team, football club based in Tallinn, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football league system, Estonian football. The ...

in the 1st Leg of the second qualifying round to the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League. He played his

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

debut on 28 July in the away 2–2 draw against the Grasshopper Club. He scored his first goal for his new team in the home game in the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

on 26 September. Following a freekick from

Marcelo Díaz Marcelo Alfonso Díaz Rojas (; born 30 December 1986) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Paraguayan Primera División side Libertad. Díaz came through Universidad de Chile youth academy, and was promot ...

Sauro headed the ball home for the final goal of the game as Basel won 4–1 against

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

. Basel had started in the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League in the qualifying rounds. But were knocked out of the competition by

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club'', whe ...

in the play-off round. They then continued in the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage. Ending the group in second position, Basel continued in the knockout phase and advanced as far as the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, there being matched against the reigning

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

holders

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Chelsea won both games advancing 5–2 on aggregate, eventually winning the competition. At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 he won the Championship title with the team. In the 2012–13 Swiss Cup Basel reached the final, but were runners up behind Grasshopper Club, being defeated 4–3 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw after extra time. At the start of their 2013–14 season season Sauro was member of the Basel team that won the 2013 Uhrencup. Basel joined the 2013–14 Champions League in the qualifying rounds and they advanced to the group stage. Finishing in third place in their group, Basel qualified for Europa League knockout phase. In the round of 16, second leg, Basel played away from home against Red Bull Salzburg on 20 March 2014. Despite a red card for

Marek Suchý Marek Suchý (born 29 March 1988) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Mladá Boleslav and former captain of the Czech Republic national team. Club career Slavia, Spartak Primarily a centre-back capable of perfor ...

(9th minute) and then an early goal against them (22), Basel fought back. Streller scored the equaliser after the break and then Sauro scored his first

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

goal and it was the winner that took them through to the quarter-finals. However, in the quarter-final they were beaten by

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

5-3 on aggregate, after extra time. At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Sauro won his second league championship with Basel. The team also reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

on 21 April 2014. Sauro and

Giovanni Sio Giovanni-Guy Yann Sio (born 31 March 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Swiss Super League club FC Sion. Born in France, he represented the Ivory Coast at international level. Career Born in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, ...

were both sent off as Basel fell to rivals

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

2–0 in added extra time, after a goalless 90 minutes. On 21 August 2014 Basel announced that Sauro was loaned to

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

for the following season.

Catania (loan)

On 19 August 2014, Sauro joined

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

club

on an initial one-year loan deal with an option to buy. He was given the number 15 shirt. He made his

debut on 30 August, coming on as a late substitute for Gino Peruzzi in Catania's 3−3 draw with

Virtus Lanciano S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 is an Italian association football club, based in Lanciano, Abruzzo. It last played in Serie B in 2015–16 as Virtus Lanciano. Virtus Lanciano now competes in youth football only. History The club was founded in ...

. In just his second game for the Italian side, Sauro picked up two yellow cards and was sent off in the 70th minute as Catania fell to a 3−2 defeat to

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Italy, with seven natio ...

on 7 September 2014.

Return to Basel

Following his loan period Sauro returned to Basel, but played only in two pre-season matches On 6 August 2015 it was announced that Sauro had signed a three-year contract with

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

. During his time with the club Sauro played a total of 91 games for Basel scoring a total of three goals. 35 of these games were in the

, 10 in the

, 20 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 26 were friendly games. He scored one goal in the domestic league, one in the

and the other was scored during the test games.

Columbus Crew SC

On 6 August 2015, Sauro signed for

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an Soccer in the United States, American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference ( ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He made his MLS debut on 6 September 2015 in a 3–0 loss to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

, starting but having to come off after seven minutes with a head injury. In the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs, Sauro played in four of five matches, missing only the home victory over the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

He played the full 90 minutes of Columbus' 2–1 loss in the

2015 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2015 was the 20th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS). The association football, soccer match was to determine the champion of MLS' 2015 Major League Soccer season, 2015 season. The championship wa ...

to the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

. Sauro tore his PCL in a 0–0 draw with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

on 21 May 2016, He would be sidelined until a 3 September defeat at the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

. On 19 December 2016, Columbus announced that Sauro would miss the entire 2017 season to recover from multiple knee surgeries. Sauro signed a new contract with Columbus on 11 January 2018.

Deportivo Toluca

On 7 August 2019, Sauro transferred to

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

side

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...

. He left the club in May 2021.

Club Atlético Sarmiento

On 29 August 2021, Sauro was acquired by

of the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

Personal

Sauro earned his U.S. green card prior to the 2017 MLS season. This status also qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honours

Club

;Boca Juniors * Primera División: 2011 Apertura *

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

: 2011–12 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

runner-up:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

;Basel *

: 2012–13, 2013–14 *

runner-up: 2012–13, 2013–14 *

Uhrencup The Uhrencup is a club football tournament, held annually in Grenchen and Biel in Switzerland. The Uhrencup is seen as a testament to the major influence that is exercised by the local industry on the cultural lives of the areas residents. The tou ...

: 2013 ;Columbus Crew SC * Eastern Conference (Playoffs):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sauro, Gaston Living people 1990 births Argentine men's footballers Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe Men's association football central defenders Boca Juniors footballers FC Basel players Catania FC players Columbus Crew players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Club Atlético Sarmiento footballers Argentine Primera División players Swiss Super League players Serie B players Major League Soccer players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico