Sal Zizzo

Sal Zizzo
Personal information
Full name Salvatore Zizzo Jr.[1]
Date of birth (1987-04-03) April 3, 1987
Place of birth San Diego, California, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Winger, Fullback
Club information
Current team
 New York Red Bulls
Number 15
Youth career
2005–2006 UCLA Bruins
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2006–2007 Orange County Blue Star 13 (5)
2007–2010 Hannover 96 II 45 (8)
2007–2010 Hannover 96 8 (0)
2009 → Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 0 (0)
2010 Chivas USA 10 (0)
2011–2013 Portland Timbers 60 (2)
2014 Sporting Kansas City 19 (0)
2015– New York Red Bulls 30 (0)
National team‡
2007 United States U20 5 (0)
2008 United States U23 2 (0)
2007 United States 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:23, 30 April 2016 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of March 30, 2010

Salvatore "Sal" Zizzo Jr. (born April 3, 1987) is an American soccer player who plays for New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.

Career

Youth and amateur

Zizzo attended Patrick Henry High School, where he played soccer and baseball. As a baseball center fielder, he was a four-year letterman and voted first-team All-CIF his junior year. He also excelled in soccer, he was voted All-CIF honors four years straight (2002–05).[2] He played club soccer for Hotspurs USA (El Cajon, CA), and was a member of his region's Olympic Development Program (ODP) team. Zizzo then went on to play two years of college soccer at UCLA. At UCLA he was an NCSAA/adidas All-American as a freshman in 2005.[3] Zizzo was also selected as Pac10 Freshman Player of the Year the same year. In 2006, UCLA reached the College Cup vs. Santa Barbara in St. Louis.

During his college years he also played two seasons with senior amateur team Orange County Blue Star in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Zizzo left college early and turned professional in July 2007 after a successful U20 World Cup in Canada for the United States. He signed to German Bundesliga club Hannover 96, for a three-year contract. Zizzo made his Bundesliga debut for Hannover on May 10, 2008 in a match against Werder Bremen. In October 2009, Zizzo suffered an ACL injury and missed the entire 2009–10 season.[4] During his stay at the club he was a regular starter for the reserve side, Hannover 96 II, appearing in 45 league matches and scoring 8 goals.

On July 21, 2010, Chivas USA acquired Zizzo through a weighted lottery conducted by MLS.[5] Zizzo played in 10 games (making one start) over the second half of the season, totaling 254 minutes and one assist. On February 15, 2011, Zizzo was traded by Chivas USA to MLS expansion side Portland Timbers in exchange for allocation money.[6] Zizzo scored his first MLS goal on August 15, 2012 in a 2-2 draw at Toronto FC. On August 31, 2013, Zizzo scored his second career league goal in a 4-2 loss to Real Salt Lake. In three seasons with Portland Zizzo appeared in 60 league matches and scored 2 goals and assisted on 7.

On December 13, 2013, Zizzo was traded to Sporting Kansas City in exchange for allocation money.[7] On September 23, 2014 Zizzo helped Sporting to a 3-0 victory over Real Estelí in a CONCACAF Champions League match, scoring the third goal of the match.

On December 10, 2014, Zizzo was the ninth pick of New York City FC in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft. The following day he was traded to local rivals New York Red Bulls in a deal agreed prior to the draft, with Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara going the other way on a one-year loan.[8] Zizzo made his debut for New York on March 8, 2015 coming on as a second half substitute in a 1-1 draw at former club Sporting Kansas City. [9] On March 22, 2015 Zizzo started his first match for New York in a 2-0 victory over rival D.C. United at Red Bull Arena.[10] On July 1, 2015 Zizzo scored his first goal for New York, helping the Red Bulls to a 4-1 victory in the U.S. Open Cup over local rival New York Cosmos.[11] Zizzo ended the season as the clubs starting right back and helped New York in capturing the 2015 MLS Supporters' Shield.[12]

International

Zizzo represented the U.S. at the U18 and U20 levels. He participated in the Lisbon International Tournament and the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland with the U18s in 2005. Zizzo suited up for the United States. U20 National Team in the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup, starting all five of the team's matches in the tournament and helping the team reach the quarterfinals. He made his senior national team debut on August 22, 2007, in a friendly against Sweden.

Personal

Zizzo holds both American and Italian citizenship, as both his parents were born in Palermo, Sicily.[13] This helped with negotiating a contract in Europe with Hannover 96.[14] In November 2013 Zizzo married American actress Destiny Moniz. They have a daughter, Capri. In 2016, they appeared on the American TV show "Rattled" Also at Sporting Kansas City he began a talk show with Benny Feilhaber being the host while he was the musical guest with an unplugged keyboard lip syncing to songs with Benny dancing. They named the show The Benny Feilhaber Show ft. Sal Zizzo. His signature style is wearing sunglasses inside.

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Orange County Blue Star 2006 114 00 00 00 114
2007 21 00 00 00 21
Total 135 00 00 00 135
Hannover 96 II 2007-08 214 00 00 00 214
2008-09 171 00 00 00 171
2009-10 73 00 00 00 73
Total 45 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 8
Hannover 96 2007-08 20 00 00 00 20
2008-09 50 10 00 00 60
2009-10 10 00 00 00 10
Total 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Chivas USA 2010 100 10 00 00 110
Portland Timbers 2011 300 10 00 00 310
2012 201 00 00 00 201
2013 101 20 00 00 121
Total 60 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 63 2
Sporting Kansas City 2014 190 20 00 31 241
New York Red Bulls 2015 220 21 40 00 281
2016 70 00 00 00 70
Career totals 18415 91 40 31 20017

Honors

Club

United States New York Red Bulls

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. p. 23. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Player Bio: Sal Zizzo - Men's Soccer". UCLA Athletics. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  3. ↑ Jeffries, Simon (July 25, 2007). "Team USA: Sal Zizzo signs with Bundesliga's Hannover 96". San Diego MLS Project. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Zizzo tears ACL, done for season". american-soccer-news.com. October 13, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  5. ↑ http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/lottery-sends-sal-zizzo-chivas-usa
  6. ↑ Portland Timbers acquire midfielder Sal Zizzo from Chivas USA
  7. ↑ Austin, Kurt. "Sporting KC acquires midfielder Sal Zizzo through trade with Portland Timbers FC". SportingKC.com. Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  8. ↑ Zizzo joins Red Bulls - newyorkredbulls.com
  9. ↑ "RBNY earn hard-fought point on the road vs. Sporting Kansas City". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  10. ↑ "RBNY blank conference rivals in home opener". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  11. ↑ "New York Red Bulls 4, New York Cosmos 1". New York Red Bulls. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  12. ↑ "New York Red Bulls Claim Supporters’ Shield With 2-1 Win At Chicago". newyorkredbulls.com. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Meet Your United States U-20 Team - New York Times
  14. ↑ German club Hannover signs U.S. U-20 Zizzo - Soccer America

External links

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