Gastón Sauro (born 23 February 1990) is an Argentine professional

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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

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 ...

Club career

Boca Juniors

Sauro made his professional debut with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

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 professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

. Sauro made his debut on 17 July in a 2–0 away win against Flora Tallinn in the 1st Leg of the second qualifying round to the

2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was p ...

. He made his

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

debut on 28 July in a 2–2 draw away against the Grasshopper Club. He scored his first goal for the club in the home game at 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, as Basel won 4–1 against

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

. At the end of the

2012–13 Swiss Super League The 2012–13 Swiss Super League, also known as the Raiffeisen Super League for sponsoring purposes, was the 116th season of top-tier football in Switzerland. It began on 14 July 2012 and ended on 2 June 2013. Basel successfully defended their ...

, Sauro won the Championship title with Basel. In the

2012–13 Swiss Cup The 2012–13 Swiss Cup was the 88th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition commenced on 14 September 2012 with the first game of Round 1 and ended on 20 May 2013 with the Final. The winners of the competition, Gr ...

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 the 2013–14 season, Sauro was a member of the Basel team that won the 2013 Uhrencup. At the end of the

2013–14 Swiss Super League The 2013–14 Swiss Super League was the 117th season of top-tier football in Switzerland. It began on 13 July 2013 and ended on 18 May 2014. Basel successfully defended their title for a record fifth time in a row. A total of 10 teams compete ...

, Sauro won his second league championship with Basel. The team also reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

on 21 April 2014l Sauro and Giovanni Sio were both sent off as Basel lost to rivals

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

2–0 in extra time, after a goalless 90 minutes. During his time with Basel, Sauro played a total of 91 games, scoring three goals.

Loan to Catania

On 19 August 2014, Sauro joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie 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 season. It had b ...

club

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

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. 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 Football in Italy, 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 Ital ...

on 7 September 2014.

Columbus Crew SC

On 6 August 2015, Sauro signed for

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 charter clubs of the league. ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. 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 in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

, being substituted after seven minutes with a head injury. During the 2016 season, he tore his PCL in a 0–0 draw with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

on 21 May 2016, being ruled out for 4-5 months. Sauro chose to undertake rehab rather than surgery, a choice he later called "the wrong decision." After returning to the team, the pain in his knee returned and doctors found a new injury which was worsened by his PCL tear. 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 Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

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. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

. 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 (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

International career

Sauro was a member of the Argentina squad at the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

. He made his debut in the match against Costa Rica, where he scored both goals in his team's 2–0 victory.

Style of play

A strong, physically imposing player, former teammate Wil Trapp called Sauro a player that "exudes confidence; he’s a natural leader .. a guy who you can really rely on to crunch a guy when a guy needs to be crunched. He’s a physical beast, but he’s a smart player as well.”

Personal life

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

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). The first editions ...

: 2011–12 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

runner-up:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Basel *

: 2012–13, 2013–14 *

runner-up: 2012–13, 2013–14 *

Uhrencup The Uhrencup is a association football, club football tournament, held annually in Grenchen and Biel/Bienne, Biel in Switzerland. The Uhrencup is seen as a testament to the major influence that is exercised by the local watchmaking industry on the ...

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

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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 Club Atlético Huracán footballers América de Cali footballers Argentine Primera División players Swiss Super League players Serie B players Major League Soccer players Categoría Primera A 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 Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Colombia 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 Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Argentina men's youth international footballers