Rodrigo Palacio

He is the son of José Ramón Palacio, a historic player of Club Olimpo during the 1980s.

Palacio holds a Spanish passport, allowing him to be counted as an EU player.

Rodrigo Sebastián Palacio Alcalde (born 5 February 1982) is an Argentine professional basketball player and former footballer who played as a second striker.

At age 12, he joined Bella Vista de Bahía Blanca's youth academy, and made his first team debut aged 17 in 2002, in a Torneo Argentino B (fourth division) match.

Palacio began his professional career as a 20 year old in 2002, when he signed for Huracán de Tres Arroyos of the Primera B Nacional (second division).

He made his debut on 25 August 2002, in a 2–0 victory against Juventud Antoniana.

Palacio played two years for the club, and left in 2004.

In 2004, Primera División club Banfield signed Palacio.

He spent two seasons at the club, scoring 11 goals in 38 appearances.

In August 2004, he played his first match in a continental competition and scored in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal de Sarandí as part of the 2004 Copa Sudamericana.

He scored in the second leg as well, but Banfield lost the match 4–3 and were eliminated.

In January 2005, Palacio completed a transfer to Boca Juniors shortly before the 2005 Clausura began.

He scored his first goal for the club on 18 January, in a 2–0 victory against Independiente.

In the 2005 Copa Sudamericana, Palacio scored a hat trick in the quarter finals against Sport Club Internacional on 10 November 2005, which ended in a 4–1 for CABJ.

He also scored the opening goal in the first leg of the finals against Pumas UNAM, contributing greatly to Boca's championship, which was eventually won on penalties.

Palacio was the third top scorer with 5 goals, behind Bruno Marioni and Jorge Quinteros.

In the 2006 Recopa Sudamericana, Palacio scored two goals in the first leg and one in the second leg to help Boca beat São Paulo and win their third Recopa.

On 26 April 2007, Palacio scored two goals in a 7–0 demolishing of Club Bolívar in the 2007 Copa Libertadores.

On 24 May, he scored the last goal in a 2–0 win over Club Libertad in the quarter-finals.

Palacio also scored the opening goal of the finals 1st leg against Grêmio, which ended in a 5–0 aggregate win for Boca (2–0 and 3–0).

On 16 December, he would score an equalizer to make the score 1–1 against Milan, although the Italian side eventually won the Club World Cup final 4–2.

Palacio earned the Bronze Ball trophy in the tournament, being ranked as the third best player behind Milan players Clarence Seedorf and Kaká respectively.

Palacio's performance in the 2008 Copa Libertadores helped Boca avoid elimination from the group stage by scoring twice against Mexico's Atlas in a 3–0 home victory and scoring the third goal in Boca's dramatic 4–3 win against Chile's Colo-Colo.

On 7 May 2008, Palacio scored the first goal in a 2–1 second-leg win against Brazilian club Cruzeiro.

Boca eventually reached the semi-finals, where they would lose to Fluminense 4–1 on aggregate.

Despite a minor injury that would see him sidelined for a small portion of the second half of the year, Palacio would then go on to win the Recopa Sudamericana against Arsenal de Sarandí, scoring one goal in the first leg and another goal in the second leg.

He later won the 2008–09 Torneo Apertura after the title had to be fought out between the top three teams that were equal on points, Boca, San Lorenzo and Tigre.

The championship play-offs were all held at Racing Club's stadium in a round-robin format and were held in December 2008.

Palacio would score in a 3–1 win against San Lorenzo to help claim the title.

In July 2009, Palacio signed a contract with Italian club Genoa.

His debut in Serie A was on 23 August, in a 3–2 win over Roma.

On 5 November, he scored his first goal for the club in the UEFA Europa League match against Lille, which ended in a 3–2 victory for Genoa.

In Serie A, the striker scored his first goal against Parma, the team in which he also scored a double against in the return leg, a 3–2 away win.

2 years after his debut, Palacio also entered in Coppa Italia statistics with a brace in a 4–3 win against AG Nocerina.

In the last two weeks of January 2012, Palacio scored two braces: one in a 5–3 loss against Palermo, and the other in a 3–2 win against Napoli.

On his last appearance for Genoa, the hundredth overall, he received a red card against Udinese.

On 22 May 2012, Genoa president Enrico Preziosi confirmed that Palacio would join Inter for the 2012–13 season.

On 7 June, he was officially sold to Inter for €10.5 million, signing a three-year contract paying the player €2.7 million per year.

At international level, Palacio has represented the Argentina national team at two FIFA World Cups and a Copa América, winning runner-up medals at the 2014 World Cup and the 2007 Copa América.

Beyond his qualities as a footballer, Palacio is also known for his rattail braid hairstyle.