This Is the Los Angeles Galaxy: Marcelo Sarvas Fazzio

This is Part One in a series of articles on the players who will be playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2012.

There is an old saying that goes like this: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Such is the case with midfielder Marcelo Sarvas Fazzio, who now joins the Los Angeles Galaxy from Costa Rican powerhouse side Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.

With his years of experience as a playmaker, Sarvas now has a chance to not only earn a CONCACAF Champions League title, but also lead his club to glory and a successful defense of their MLS Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup.

Sarvas, who was born in Sao Paulo on Oct. 16, 1981, began his career as a member of Corinthians's youth sides and first broke onto the scene in 2002 with the Corinthians first team. After a spell with third-division club Noroeste, Sarvas began an long European journey.

In 2004, Sarvas played for Karlskrona AIF, then of the Swedish third division. He made 22 appearances for the club, scoring three times.

After Karlskrona were relegated, Sarvas spent two seasons with Kristianstads FF, another Swedish third division team. This was his best stint in Europe by far. Sarvas was a fan favorite at Kristianstads, scoring 23 goals in 48 appearances.

The potential was there, and after the 2006 season, Sarvas moved to Mjallby AIF, who were a Superettan side at the time. The Superettan is the Swedish second division of football. However, Sarvas was rarely-used, making just 12 appearances on the pitch. Midway through the season, Sarvas was offloaded to IF Linhamn Bunkeflo, a relatively new club. In spite of making 12 appearances and scoring twice, Bunkeflo were relegated, and Sarvas was offloaded to Polonia Warsaw of the Ekstraklasa.

Polonia would be the last stop on Sarvas's European tour. From 2009-2010, he recorded two goals in only 28 appearances before making the jump to Alajuelense of the Costa Rican Primera Division.

Sarvas fared well in two seasons of action, scoring three goals in 29 league appearances. However, the fact that Alajuelense were not going to be in the CONCACAF Champions League and the Galaxy—a team with better pay—were proved to be the deciding factor in the current move.

On Dec. 13, 2011, the Los Angeles Galaxy signed Marcelo Sarvas Fazzio to a two-year deal. With the signing, he helps add depth to a midfield that will potentially be missing the services of David Beckham.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And Marcelo Sarvas knows this adage quite well.