Ignacio Scocco
| File:Scocco.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ignacio Martín Scocco | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | AEK Athens | ||
Ignacio Martín Scocco (born on 29 May 1985 in Santa Fe, Argentina) is an Argentine football player currently playing as a striker for AEK Athens in the Greek Super League.
Club career
Newell's Old Boys
Ignacio Scocco started his career at Newell's Old Boys in 2004. He managed to have 75 appearances, scoring 48 goals, and he posed Newell's Old Boys main threat together with star players Fernando Belluschi and Ariel Ortega, as they played a major role when Newell's Old Boys won the Apertura 2004. He also scored a very important goal for Newell's Old Boys against Boca Juniors scoring in the 82' minute making his club 1-0 up. In the summer of 2006 Ignacio Scocco signed for Pumas UNAM for a fee of $2.5m, but Scocco stated to the newspaper «Reforma» that one day he will return to Newell's Old Boys.
The Newell's Old Boys youth program quickly picked this young man up, and he was just nineteen when he made his debut in the Argentinean top flight v San Lorenzo. In that Apertura 2004 season he came on as a sub 5 times (meanwhile, in Mexico Pumas UNAM were winning the first half of the bicampeonato). In the Clausura 2004 he started 14 games, and came on in the other 5, scoring three times. These goals helped Newell's Old Boys win the league, just as UNAM Pumas were winning the league in Mexico.
"El Tucán, like his nickname is, was now a regular fixture in the Newell's Old Boys setup, and during the Clausura 2006 season he scored 9 goals in 18 games, but better was to come in the 2006 edition of the Libertadores, the one in which UNAM Pumas got 1 point in 6 games. Newell's Old Boys did better, getting past the group stage. Scocco’s 4 goals in just 5 starts were crucial to their campaign. Scocco wore the number 32 in the famous red and black shirts. This was the same number Dean Ashton wore for City in his first season.
When Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti took over Pumas UNAM, and his main, yet ineffective, strikers Joaquín Botero and Bruno Marioni left he was willing to sign Scocco for 2.5 Million.
Club Universidad Nacional
In 2006 Ignacio Scocco joined Mexican side Pumas for €2.5 million. Scocco signed a three year deal with them earning €5000 a year. He made his debut against Chiapas, and during his second appearance against Veracruz he scored his first goal, from the goal kick. Nacho Scocco also annotated a hat-trick for Pumas against Querétaro. Ignacio Scocco annotated his last goal for Pumas UNAM against Veracruz, gaining Pumas UNAM 4-2. Scocco takes to himself number 10 and also he is considered to be one of the strikers most been afraid in Mexico. Ignacio Scocco finished his career in Pumas that have 74 appearances and managing to annotate 38 goal. Scocco was also the manager of the joint top scoreboard with the team member Esteban Solari.
AEK Athens F.C.
Ignacio Scocco signed a 3 year contract with AEK Athens on the 18 June, 2008. AEK Athens signed Scocco for a fee of €1.5 million and will be earning €650K per year [1]. In his latest interviews Scocco also stated that this was a huge opportunity for his career and that playing in Europe was a dream for him. Nacho is the fourth Argentinian AEK Athens player. The others are Sebastián Saja, Ismael Blanco, and Rodolfo Martin Arruabarrena. He will also be playing together with his idol Rivaldo.
Ignacio Scocco made his debut against Arminia Bielefeld and also scored a long range freekick in the 27th minute.
International career
Under-20
Ignacio Scocco started his Youth Interenational Career in 2004, Scocco has had 12 appearances and scored 3 Goals, he made his debut against Colombia on the 27 July, 2004. On the 3 November, 2004, Scocco made his second appearance against Paraguay and scored in the 77' minute macking Argentina 2-0 up. Scocco was also called up to be part of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. Scocco played 2 matches in the tournament against Uzbekistan on December 1 2005 and against Mali on December 4 2005.
National team
On April 15 2005, José Pekerman called up Ignacio Scocco for a friendly against Chile but was left on the substitutes. On June 3 2005, Scocco was called up for another friendly for Argentina against Puerto Rico, but pulled a hamstring and was out of football for a couple of weeks and was not included in the match. Scocco was also going to be in Argentina's plans for the Copa América 2004 but Mauro Rosales was chosen over Scocco to be in the tournament. Ignacio Scocco is also one of the biggest talents in South America.
After impressing Argentinas coach Alfio Basile, Ignacio Scocco was called up for an unofficial friendly against Guatemala on February 6, 2008, which Scocco played 10 minutes in the match and came on for Ezequiel Lavezzi
Honours
References
- ^ "AEK FC signs Ignacio Scocco". aekfc.gr.