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Emilio Saba
Personal information
Full name	Emilio Esteban Saba Fassioli
Date of birth	26 March 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth	Lima, Peru
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Right back
Team information
Current team	Carlos A. Mannucci (on loan from Melgar)
Number	4
Youth career
	Esther Grande
2018	Sport Boys
2018	Alianza Lima
2019	Melgar
Senior career*
Years	Team
2020–	Melgar
2021	→ Deportivo Municipal (loan)
2022	→ UTC Cajamarca (loan)
2023	→ ADT (loan)
2024	→ Carlos A. Mannucci (loan)
International career‡
2023–2024	Peru U23
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:34, 19 October 2024 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 09:34, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

Emilio Esteban Saba Fassioli (born 26 March 2001) is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a right back for Carlos A. Mannucci, on loan from Melgar.

He has played over 75 games in the Peruvian Primera División for Melgar, Deportivo Municipal, UTC Cajamarca, ADT and Carlos A. Mannucci.

Club career

Early career

Born in Lima, Saba played for the youth team of Esther Grande. He played on the right side of midfield or on the wing, scoring 28 times in 2017, and occasionally played in age groups one or two years older than his age. In 2018, he also played for Sport Boys as part of an agreement between the two clubs, and joined Alianza Lima in August.^[1]

In October 2018, Saba went on trial for two weeks at Werder Bremen of the German Bundesliga. He trained with players including Peruvian veteran Claudio Pizarro.^[1]

Melgar

When Esther Grande manager Marco Valencia moved to Melgar in 2019, he signed Saba, who helped the reserve team to third place that year.^[2] When the Torneo de Promoción y Reserva was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Saba was added to the first team and made his professional debut in the Peruvian Primera División on 27 August in a 2–0 home loss to Carlos Stein, playing the last 25 minutes as a substitute for Diego Manicero.^[3]

In March 2021, Saba was loaned to Deportivo Municipal.^[4] For the following two years he also moved temporarily, respectively to UTC Cajamarca and ADT; with the latter, he played 28 games in 2023 as they qualified for the Copa Sudamericana for the first time.^[5]

Saba was linked with a return to Alianza for 2023, but opted to go on loan again, this time to Carlos A. Mannucci.^[5]

International career

Saba was included in the Peru under-20 team, but COVID conditions meant that the team played no official matches during his spell. They did play training matches against other age groups of the Peruvian Football Federation, and these led to him preferring a right-back position.^[2]

Saba was called up to the senior team ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela in November 2023. Manager Juan Reynoso excluded players from Alianza or Universitario due to the national finals.^[6]

In December 2023, Saba was called up for the Peru under-23 team for four friendly matches. He scored a penalty kick in a 4–0 win over Bolivia.^[7] The following month, he was the captain at the 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in Venezuela, from which his team did not qualify for the Olympic event.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b "¿Quién es el futbolista peruano que cumplió entrenamientos de prueba con Werder Bremen?" [Who is the Peruvian footballer who had trial training sessions with Werder Bremen?]. El Comercio (in Spanish). 7 November 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Emilio Saba «Hace dos años que soy lateral derecho»" [Emilio Saba "I've been a right back for two years"] (in Spanish). Todo Sport. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ "Melgar no pudo con Carlos Stein y cayó por 2-0" [Melgar couldn't deal with Carlos Stein and fell 2-0] (in Spanish). Radio Yaraví. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ "Municipal oficializó el fichaje de Emilio Saba" [Municipal confirmed the signing of Emilio Saba]. Ovación (in Spanish). 4 March 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ ^a ^b "¿Quién es Emilio Saba, la figura de la Selección Peruana Sub 23?" [Who is Emilio Saba, the figure of the Peruvian under-23 national team?] (in Spanish). Fútbol Peruano. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ Galiano, Renzo (30 October 2023). "Sin jugadores de Alianza Lima y Universitario, lista de convocados de Liga 1 para los partidos ante Bolivia y Venezuela" [Without players from Alianza Lima or Universitario, list of Liga 1 call-ups for the matches against Bolivia and Venezuela] (in Spanish). Infobae. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ "La selección peruana sub-23 se impuso ante Bolivia y goleó 4-0 en partido amistoso" [Peru under-23 national team imposed themselves on Bolivia and routed them 4-0 in a friendly match]. La República (in Spanish). 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ Benedetti, Eliezer (25 January 2024). "El lamento de Emilio Saba, capitán de Perú Sub 23, tras dolorosa derrota ante Argentina: "Perdimos la batalla, no la guerra"" [The lament of Emilio Saba, captain of Peru under-23, after the painful defeat against Argentina: "We lost the battle, not the war"] (in Spanish). Infobae. Retrieved 19 October 2024.