Marcelo Sarvas

How Acquired: Signed by the Galaxy on December 13, 2011

One of the more overlooked offseason acquisitions in MLS, Sarvas joins the Galaxy from Alajuelense to add more creativity and skill in the Galaxy midfield. Dangerous and composed when the ball is at his feet thanks in large to his tremendous field vision and awareness, he is at his best when playing centrally but is also capable of playing on either wing. His skill will be relied on heavily at the start of the season in MLS play as he is ineligible for the 2011/12 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League after playing for Alajuelense earlier in the competition.

Career Highlights

2013: Sarvas collected four goals and six assists for LA Galaxy. He scored his first goal of the year in a 1-0 win against Sporting Kansas City (4/20), tapping home a cross from Landon Donovan. Sarvas’ acrobatic right foot volley against San Jose Earthquakes (6/29) on the 20^th minutes was voted as LA Galaxy’s Goal of the Year. He topped the team with 2,897 minutes, starting in all of his 33 appearances. His contribution to the team was acknowledged by Galaxy fans as he was named the 2013 LA Riot Squad Player of the Year.

2012: Sarvas officially signed with LA Galaxy at the end of 2011. Teaming up with Brazilian partner Juninho at center midfield in his first season as a Galaxy player, Sarvas started in 22 games out of his 27 MLS appearances, tallying two goals and two assists. One of which was a powerful drive against Colorado Rapids (9/30) that earned him the AT&T Goal of the Week nomination for week 30. Making appearances in all six of MLS Playoffs games, Marcelo helped the Galaxy defend its MLS Cup title.

2010-11: Signed with Alajuelense ahead of the start of the 2011 Verano season, helping his new club win another championship and book a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. With Sarvas leading the way and being named the top foreign player in the league, Alajuelense repeated as title winners in the 2011 Invierno, beating Herediano in a two-leg final. Sarvas scored in the second leg of that series, which was decided in a penalty shootout, with Sarvas converting his spot kick as well in his final game for the club. 2009-10: Moved to Poland when he signed with Polonia Warsaw of the Polish Ekstraklasa, which is the top division of soccer in Poland. In a year and a half with the club, Sarvas appeared in 28 league games, scoring twice, while adding two more goals in six Europa League matches. 2008-09: Joined his fourth and final Swedish team, Bunkeflo midway through the 2008 season but could not save them from relegation to the Sodra. He scored twice in 12 games for the club as they finished in 13th place and were relegated via a playoff. 2007-08: Joined his third club in Sweden, signing with Mjallby of the Superettan, which is the second division of soccer in Sweden. In a year and a half with the club, appearing in 34 league games for the club and scoring four times. All four goals came during the 2007 season as Mjallby finished in ninth place in the league. 2005-06: Joined Kristianstads of the Swedish Sodra Gotaland and spent two years with the club, appearing in nearly 50 league games for the club and scoring more than 20 goals and helping them earn promotion to the Sodra, which is the highest level of the third tier of Swedish soccer. 2004: After beginning his career in his native Brazil playing for SC Corinthians Paulista and Noroeste, he moved to Europe for the first time, signing with Karlskrona AIF of the Swedish Sodra Gotaland and appearing in 22 games for the club and scoring three times.