The former Universitario left-back is remembered for his superb free-kick goal in a classic and for eventually leaving football to pursue mixed martial arts.
He Peruvian football classic between Universitario and Alianza Lima has thousands of stories and memories to tell. One that Creme fans will never forget is the U’s 2-1 win at the National Stadium on Saturday 14th July 2012. This game left a great goal from a free kick as the postcard of the game. The author of it was Aurelio Saco-Vertizwho scored his first goal as a professional in this way and attributed it to his drop shot practice with Nolberto Solano.
Aurelio Saco-Vértiz established himself as Universitario’s left-back this season and stayed with the club for a few more years. In 2014 he added just a few minutes to the Inca Tournament and injuries prevented him from continuing. In this regard, he surprised everyone when it was announced that he would debut as a mixed martial artist. What is the life of Saco-Vértiz?
Aurelio Saco-Vértiz and his football career
Aurelio Saco-Vértiz made his professional debut at Universidad San Martín in 2008 and was part of the squad that won twice with Víctor Rivera. The following year, he appeared in just four games and continued his career with Total Chalaco. With just a few minutes, he went to Deportivo Coopsol in mid-2010. Curiously, Saco-Vértiz played as a forward with the yellow team, scoring three goals in the eight games he played.
Aurelio Saco-Vértiz played as a forward for Deportivo Coopsol in 2010. Photo: DeChalaca
From Coopsol he went to Universitario in 2011, a club where he played practically no minutes. That all changed in 2012, the year he established himself as a regular in Creme Defense and had his best year as a professional footballer. After making his debut in MMA in 2014, he returned to the pitches with a Cienciano jersey for the ill-fated 2015 season in which “Dad” lost in the category.
At Cienciano he shared positions with Kerwin Peixoto on the left, but the winger in the starting XI was Farihd Jasaui. He completed his last year of football in 2016 with the now defunct Fort Lauderdale Strikers from the USA, who played in the NASL (then Second Order League) in 2016.
Aurelio Saco-Vértiz’s last Peruvian club was Cienciano in 2015. Photo: GLR
What happened to Aurelio Saco-Vértiz?
When he was still playing professional football, Aureli Saco-Vértiz made it known that muay tai was his second passion besides this sport. He debuted as a mixed martial artist in a cage match on December 11, 2014 against Ecuadorian Franklin Ureña, defeating his rival by technical knockout. However, this was his only official fight before being signed by Cienciano.
Saco-Vértiz currently works as a fitness trainer in Miami. He is a Master Instructor at STRONG Nation, a company specializing in Zumba classes. The former Universitario player ventured into the fitness world a few years ago and already has a lot of experience as a coach. He actively publishes several videos of his activities in this area on his social networks.
Aurelio Saco-Vértiz now works in the fitness world. Photo: Instagram shot by Aurelio Saco-Vértiz