Darío Sala
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Darío Alberto Sala | ||
| Date of birth | October 17, 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Córdoba, Argentina | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1995 |
San Lorenzo | 19 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Talleres | 28 | (0) |
| 1996 |
Racing de Córdoba | 14 | (0) |
| 1996–1998 |
Belgrano | 47 | (0) |
| 1999 | Los Andes | 41 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | River Plate | 16 | (0) |
| 2001 | Xerez | 18 | (0) |
| 2002 | Independiente | 19 | (0) |
| 2003 | Deportivo Cali | 66 | (1) |
| 2004 | Newell's Old Boys | 11 | (0) |
| 2005 | Chiapas | 18 | (0) |
| 2005 | Arsenal de Sarandí | 3 | (0) |
| 2005–2010 | FC Dallas | 100 | (0) |
| Total | 400 | (0) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Darío Sala (born October 17, 1974) is an Argentine
Los Andes, and River Plate in Argentina; Deportivo Cali in Colombia; and FC Dallas in Major League Soccer (MLS), where he played from 2005 to 2010. He served as general manager of Jacksonville Armada FC of the North American Soccer League
(NASL) from 2013 to 2015.
Early life
Sala was born into a working-class family in
team handball. At an early age, he earned a place on Argentina's national handball team as a right winger.[1]
Career
Early career
After becoming a
World Cup squad.Becoming a starter
After his short stint at San Lorenzo, he was traded to his hometown team,
Primera División Argentina. He moved on to Los Andes, again helping his club to a promotion to the Primera División. Sala's good play earned him a look from Argentine powerhouse River Plate who bought his rights. After earning a few non-league match starts, he was loaned out to rival Independiente where he started for two seasons. After two seasons Independiente were looking to buy Sala, but the price was not right.[1] As the Argentine economy unraveled, River officials looked to loan him to a team that could actually afford Sala's price tag; Deportivo Cali in Colombia
was that club.
Leaving Argentina
At Cali, he won goalkeeper of the year honors for the league and was named top foreigner in the league. He also enjoyed international acclaim for being the least scored upon goalkeeper in the
MetroStars which he refused.[1] He returned to Argentina playing with Newell's Old Boys; he was the second goalkeeper behind Justo Villar and was loaned to Arsenal de Sarandí
where he was the starter.
Move to the US
During the 2005
Kansas City Wizards, leading the team to a road win with an amazing series of 9 saves.[4] Dario went on to play 19 regular season games (8-7-2) in 2007, missing an additional 6 games due to a knee injury. In 2008, Sala started 28 games, missing only two due to a right hip injury. He posted career bests in minutes played with 2,520 and shutouts with seven. He finished the season with a 1.32 goals against average, helping lead the team to the fourth-best goal differential (+4) in Major League Soccer
.
After the
2010 MLS season FC Dallas declined Sala's contract option and he elected to participate in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Sala became a free agent in Major League Soccer when he was not selected in the Re-Entry draft. Shortly thereafter he retired as a player and began a new career as a player agent.[5]
Jacksonville Armada
In 2013, Sala became a part of Sunshine Soccer Group, with a goal of bringing a
Oklahoma City, on July 25 of that year. The team began play in 2015. Sala ran the operations of the team and served as general manager.[6]
Sala was fired along with the entire coaching staff of the Armada in September 2015.[7]
Personal
He is married to Margot, an American,skydiving.[10]
Honors
FC Dallas
- Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (1): 2010
References
- ^ a b c d "Who is Dario Sala?". 3rd Degree. 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2006-10-29. [dead link]
- ^ "FC Dallas Stats Sheet". MLS. 2006-10-30. Archived from the original on 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2006-10-29.
- ^ Sala Apologizes
- ^ FC DALLAS UPDATES - The Official FC Dallas Blog: May 12 - FCD 2, KC 1 Archived September 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Dario Sala Thanks FC Dallas Fans". 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 2016-05-15. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ Soergel, Matt (February 18, 2014). "Jacksonville soccer team to be called the Jacksonville Armada FC". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
- ^ "Jacksonville Armada fires coaching staff". Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
- The Daily Herald. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
- ^ FC DALLAS UPDATES - The Official FC Dallas Blog: Oct. 20 - FCD 0, KC 2[permanent dead link]
- ^ FC Dallas: Roster: Player Bio Archived November 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine