<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > The Fall of Genius: Saviola – the "rabbit" who debuted at the pinnacle</h1>
Big passers-by, game cattlemen, fringe internationals, how many forgotten those talented players. Today, we will meet the Argentine striker Javier Saviola.
Player profiles
Name: Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández
Age: 39 (born 11 December 1981)
Nationality: Argentine, Spanish
Place of birth: Buenos Aires
Position: Striker
Height: 168cm
Weight: 62kg
Nickname: Rabbit
Youth team: River Plate
Main teams: River Plate, Barca, Monaco, Sevilla, Real Madrid, Benfica
Technical characteristics: short stature, extremely fast, flexible movements, exquisite foot technology, excellent dribbling ability and assist ability, but the ability to grasp opportunities in front of the goal is slightly lacking.
Chosen Son
Born in December 1981 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saviola weighed only 2.4 kg, not as good as many premature babies, and even by the age of one year, he was significantly smaller than other children of the same age.
Saviola grew up crazy with football, and wearing a white shirt to play for River Plate was his biggest childhood dream. At the age of 6, Saviola entered river plate football school as she wished, but due to her short stature, he could only play on a 5-a-side football team until the age of 8. Since then, despite successfully entering the River Plate echelon, he has never been able to become the core player of the team in the echelon of 5 age groups. The team's youth coach at the time said, "Saviola can complete a lot of difficult moves in a small space, but his physical condition may never be able to cope with the fierce confrontation of professional football." ”
It wasn't until 1998 that Saviola met Then River Plate head coach Ramon Díaz, and his career began to come to life. At that time, the team's front-line boss Frances Scoli announced his retirement, another striker Salas moved to Lazio, and Ramón Díaz promoted the 17-year-old Saviola to the first team of River Plate.
On October 18, 1998, at the age of 17, Saviola entered the River Plate first team for the first time, and after learning the news, Saviola cried with joy, remembering his parents' cultivation, his own efforts and infinite love for River Plate, and now, he can finally realize his childhood dream. In that game, Saviola, who made her debut, not only did not shy away from the stage, but also scored a very wonderful goal on the edge of the opponent's penalty area. The match ecstaticed River Plate fans and cemented Saviola's place in the team, with the team convinced that they were witnessing the birth of a phenomenal rising star.
In the following matches, Saviola lived up to expectations, his risk combination with Aimar and Angel was full of spirituality, tacit cooperation was refreshing, and it became a nightmare for all the team's backline in the Argentine Super League, and led the team to destroy the A-Super League championship that season. Among them, Saviola, who is short and extremely fast, has also received the nickname of "rabbit" with her strong ball control skills and breakthrough ability.
In 1999, Saviola was unexpectedly named South American Footballer of the Year, when he was only 18 years old. Receiving such a heavyweight personal honor at this age has undoubtedly brought great confidence to the "rabbits" on the pitch. Since then, he has become more confident in his possession of the ball and his style of play, playing a total of 105 league games for River Plate in his debut two and a half years, scoring 47 goals.
In 2001, Saviola's career broke out again, and he led the Argentine national youth team to win the championship at the World Youth Championships held on home as an absolute core. Saviola himself scored a record 11 goals in 6 games, uncontroversially collected the World Youth Championship Most Valuable Player and Top Scorer trophies, and became a supernova who swept the world for a time, and people even began to compare him with Maradona.
After returning from the competition, Saviola naturally became the hottest sought-after item in the transfer market. In the end, like Maradona, he chose his first european stop at Barcelona, with a transfer fee of a staggering €25 million.
Barcelona time
At that time, both the Barça management and the fans had high expectations for Saviola. Before the start of the season, the "rabbit" put on his beloved No. 7 shirt as he wished, while Alfonso, who had previously worn the 7 jersey, could only wear the no. 20, which is enough to see the importance That Barca attach to Saviola.
In fact, Saviola, who is new to Barcelona, has done a good job. In the 01/02 season, he firmly occupied the main position of the team and scored 17 goals in 36 La Liga matches, averaging 0.47 goals per game, second only to Kluivert. At the end of 2001, Saviola was also selected for the Argentine national team for the first time and made his debut for the national team in the World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay, but he was not able to finally squeeze into the Argentina squad for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, which was a big blow to Saviola at that time. In the 2/03 season, Saviola's goal efficiency began to decline, still making 36 La Liga appearances, but scoring only 13 goals.
In the summer of 2003, Rijkaard's arrival kicked off Barca's "Dream II Dynasty", but for Saviola, his fate quietly changed. Tactically, Rijkaard advocates an all-round center plus two wingers of the attacking combination, limited by technical characteristics and stadium habits, "Rabbit" has never been able to become the kind of winger with a strong vertical running ability, and his physical condition and ability to seize opportunities are not up to the position of the all-round center, and the frontcourt counter-stealing and no-ball running technology can not meet Rijkaard's requirements. Throughout the 03/04 season, Saviola has been in the main position of the team, playing a very different game, although there are occasional highlights, but the spirituality of the past has gradually lost in the Camp Nou.
In the summer of 2004, with the more comprehensive Eto'o joining the team, the Reiki shooter who joined Barca at a high price that year was no longer able to enter the team's main squad. In the 04/05 season, Saviola joined Monaco on loan, and although she was still able to score 17 goals in all competitions, she failed to increase her impression points in Rijkaard's mind. In the 05/06 season, the "rabbit" was again loaned to Sevilla, and although he scored only 7 goals in 28 La Liga games, he helped the team lift the Champions League trophy.
In the summer of 2006, Saviola was named to the World Cup squad for the Argentine national team. In that cup match, "Rabbit" scored one goal against Côte d'Ivoire in the first match, and in the second game, Saviola assisted her teammates twice. However, in the quarter-finals, Saviola was criticized for missing scoring opportunities many times. After that, he faded out of the main squad and the team stopped in the quarterfinals, and Saviola's only World Cup trip came to an end.
Since then, whether in the Argentine national team or at Barca, Saviola's tactical position has been far below Messi. Of course, losing to Messi is not shameful, but the height of Saviola at the time of her debut is probably not much better than Messi. Messi later said in an interview, "Saviola was really capable at that time, but unfortunately his timing at Barca was not good, so he did not show his full talent, and I am undoubtedly the luckier person compared to his encounter." ”
In the 06/07 season, Saviola returned to Barca, but still failed to get much opportunity to perform in the absence of Eto'o for five months due to injury. Throughout the season, he played just 18 La Liga games for the team, scoring five goals. At the end of the season, Saviola, whose contract expired, became a free agent, ending the barca time that made her feel lost.
Everyone is lost
In the summer of 2007, although Xavi had said to Saviola that "if you join Real Madrid, you will lose a loyal friend", "Rabbit" finally chose a free transfer to Real Madrid, after all, after experiencing great ups and downs at Barca, he was only 26 years old, and he was still eager to prove himself on the highest platform. But this career choice, which seems to be somewhat deliberate, has completely buried the possibility of Saviola's headwind reversal.
At that time, the Real Madrid squad was full of good players, in the fierce intra-team competition, Saviola could not shake the position of Raul, Van Nistelrohe, Higuain and others, and the unexpected injury led to a further decline in his competitive state. In the 07/08 season, Real Madrid defended the La Liga title four rounds earlier, but Saviola only made nine appearances in the league, scoring three goals. By the 08/09 season, sitting on the bench had become the norm for Saviola, scoring just one La Liga goal for Real Madrid in the entire season. At the end of the season, Saviola transferred to the Portuguese Super League powerhouse Benfica, although he was able to score in doubles, but the obscurity under the mediocre is already a reality that is difficult to reverse.
After that, Saviola, after successively traveling to Malaga, Olympiacos and other clubs, finally fell back to the roots, chose to return to the MonumentAlcio Stadium in River Plate, and retired from the place where the dream began.
In the face of mixed feelings and ups and downs, Saviola's career is not a failure, but the high-open and low-going situation and the strong contrast between the tiger's tail will eventually make the viewers feel very sad. His talent is not inferior to Messi, but the so-called time, location, people and people are indispensable, and the process of cashing in on talents is also a sour, sweet and bitter life after all. All the best wishes, the "rabbit" who was once full of spirituality and infinite scenery!
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