Álvaro Alberto Saborío Chacón (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalβaɾo saβoˈɾi.o]; born 25 March 1982) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer, who played as a forward. Saborío originally retired in 2017 but returned months later.
A full international for Costa Rica since 2002, Saborío has over 110 caps and 36 goals for the nation, whom he represented at five CONCACAF Gold Cups, in addition to one tournament each at the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and Copa América.
Saborío is a product of C.F. Monterrey's youth system. He played with the club's reserve team in the Segunda División de México and with affiliate Coyotes de Saltillo in the Primera A.
Saborio began his professional career with Saprissa in his native Costa Rica. He made his Costa Rican Primera División debut against Limonense on 8 August 2001. Saborío was the leading goal-scorer of the 2003–2004 Costa Rican season, finishing the year with 25 goals, five above Whayne Wilson.
With Saprissa, he has won a league title and a CONCACAF Champions Cup and was part of the team that played the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, where Saprissa finished third behind São Paulo and Liverpool. At the tournament, he scored two goals and ended up tied with three other players for top scoring honors.
He moved to Swiss Super League outfit FC Sion after playing for Costa Rica at the 2006 World Cup. He formed a good partnership at FC Sion with Poland's Zbigniew Zakrzewski.
His performances in Switzerland reportedly caught the eye of Stoke City's manager Tony Pulis who aimed to sign him in the summer of 2009, however he instead joined Bristol City on loan.
Saborío played his first game for Bristol City in a Championship match on 13 September against Coventry City making an impact by setting up fellow striker Nicky Maynard. Saborío also picked up his first yellow card in English football as the match ended in a 1–1 draw. Saborio scored his first goal for Bristol City in their 1–1 draw with Scunthorpe United.
He left Bristol City, and his contract was terminated with FC Sion in February 2010 so that he could return to Costa Rica.
Saborío signed with Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake in March 2010. He made a huge impact in his first season in Salt Lake: RSL boasted the highest-scoring offense in MLS in 2010 (45 goals); Saborío led the way with a team-high 12 tallies. For his efforts, he earned the MLS Newcomer of the Year award. He also starred for the club in the CONCACAF Champions League tournament, scoring eight goals as Real Salt Lake advanced to the championship round.
After a successful first season at the club, Saborío was made Salt Lake's first ever Designated Player, signing a four-year contract with the club on 1 December 2010.
Saborío became the club's all-time leading scorer, and their key target man. As of 5 May 2012, Saborío had scored 38 goals across all competitions, eight of them coming from CONCACAF Champions League play.
On 18 November 2013 Saborío was named FutbolMLS.com's Latino del Año.
Saborío scored a goal in the 52nd minute of the 2013 MLS Cup on 7 December. His goal was equalized by Aurélien Collin in the 76th minute. He later missed his penalty kick when the game went into a penalty kick shoutout, in which Sporting Kansas City won.
On 16 July 2015, Saborío was traded to D.C. United for Luis Silva. He scored his first goal for United on 26 July 2015, against the Philadelphia Union. On 2 October 2015, Saborío scored a stoppage time winner against New York City FC to clinch United a spot in the 2015 MLS Playoffs.
Saborío re-signed with United on 17 November 2015.
On 14 November 2016, Saborío announced that he was to leave United after two seasons. He played 31 games, scored 10 goals, and contributed 10 assists for D.C. United.
On 10 January 2017, Saborío signed a one-year contract with Deportivo Saprissa. On 9 February 2017, Saborío announced his retirement due to conflicts with Saprissa fans.