Ignacio Scocco

He also scored a very important goal for Newell's Old Boys against Boca Juniors scoring in the 82nd minute putting his club 1–0 up.

Ignacio "Nacho" Martín Scocco (born 29 May 1985) is an Argentine retired professional footballer who last played as a forward for Newell's Old Boys.

He has also played for clubs in Mexico, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, England and Brazil.

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 Argentine top flight against San Lorenzo.

He scored 17 goals in 75 games and played alongside players such as Fernando Belluschi and Ariel Ortega in the championship winning team of Apertura 2004.

In the summer of 2006 Scocco signed for Pumas UNAM for a fee of $3.5m, but stated to the newspaper «Reforma» that one day he would return to Newell's Old Boys.

"El Tucán", was a regular fixture in the Newell's Old Boys setup, and during the Clausura 2006 season he scored nine goals in 18 games, but better was to come in the 2006 edition of the Libertadores where Newell's reached the knockout stage.

Scocco's four goals in just five starts were crucial to their campaign.

Scocco wore the number 32 in the famous red and black shirts.

When Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti took over Pumas UNAM, and his main strikers Joaquín Botero and Bruno Marioni left he was willing to sign Scocco for $3.5m.

In 2006, Scocco joined Mexican side Pumas for $3.5 million.

He made his debut against Chiapas, and during his second appearance against Veracruz he scored his first goal, from the goal kick.

Scocco also scored a hat-trick for Pumas against Querétaro.

Scocco scored his last goal for Pumas UNAM against Veracruz, gaining Pumas UNAM 4–2.

Scocco was a mainstay in the Pumas starting team, his strike partner was Esteban Solari.

Scocco ended his career at Pumas with 53 appearances and 18 goals.

Scocco reinforces the Deportivo Toluca borrowed from the Pumas UNAM order by Americo Gallego in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores 2007.

Scocco signed a three-year contract with AEK Athens on 18 June 2008.

AEK Athens signed Scocco for a fee of €1.5 million and will be earning €400,000 per year.

Scocco was the fourth Argentine AEK Athens player.

The others are Sebastián Saja, Ismael Blanco and Cristian Nasuti.

During his time at AEK, Scocco has been mostly used as a right winger and sometimes also as a second striker which was his preferred position.

Scocco also scored two goals past Olympiacos on 6 January 2010 and won AEK the match 2–1 away in the Karaiskakis Stadium.

This performance earned him the Man Of The Match award and certainly his remarkable 40 yard free kick, his second goal.

The following week he scored against Atromitos and then Panathinaikos.

Scocco also scored a goal against Panthrakikos and a free kick against Panionios one minute before the end of the match making the score 1–1.

On 16 September 2010, Scocco scored the third and final goal on AEK's first European match against Hajduk Split.

This was the first goal of the season for Scocco.

AEK won the match 3–1.

Three days later Scocco scored with a 30-yard shot against Asteras Tripolis.

On 17 October 2010, Scocco scored a 40-yard strike against Aris Thessaloniki, and followed up with a second goal for a 4–0 victory.

On 25 November 2010, Scocco renewed his contract with AEK signing a new three-year deal which would keep him at the club until 2013.

Scocco's contract was worth €3.6 million, earning €1 million per year and a buy-out clause worth €3 million for foreign teams

On 18 May 2011, Scocco scored a 38-yard shot against PAOK Thessaloniki for AEK to take the lead in a 2–1 defeat.

Due to financial problems, AEK Athens had to sell Scocco (cheaper than his buy-out clause, if necessary), to relieve itself of his expensive contract.

He left the club after 120 appearances (33 goals, 29 assists) in all competitions.

In June 2011, Scocco joined Al Ain FC for €2.8 million signing a contract worth €4.8 million per season plus a €1 million bonus if Al Ain win the UAE Championship.

In the season 2011–12 UAE Pro-League, Al Ain won the championship and later he left UAE by not signing a new contract deal due to family reasons.

In August 2011, Scocco was loaned to Newell's Old Boys to return to Argentina and his family after a six-year absence from his home country.

Scocco returned to his homeland, Argentina, to join Newell's Old Boys, his first professional team, as well as other Argentine stars such as Gabriel Heinze and Maxi Rodríguez.