Player Profile:- Ignacio Scocco

Picture the scene: - a cold a blustery May night in the small town of Hughes, Santa Fe in the heart of Argentina. At last a tiny scream rips through the air.
“What is it?” eagerly questions the panting young mother.
“Congratulations, Mrs Scocco,” answers the midwife, “it’s a striker.”
The elderly and much respected Doctor – who had delivered with his own hands both the parents of this young kicker – looks slightly concerned, “One minute,” he muses, “I think it’s an attacking midfielder.”
Twenty-one years later this quandary lives on.

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 de Almagro. In that Apertura 2004 season he came on as a sub 5 times (meanwhile, in Mexico Pumas were winning the first half of the bicampeonato). In the Clausura 2004 he started 14 games, and came on in the other 5, scoring twice. These goals helped Newell’s win the league, just as Pumas were winning the league in Mexico.

He was now a regular fixture in the NOB 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 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. As you can see from these videos (video 1 video 2) he did this wearing 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 Tuca took over Pumas, and his main, yet ineffective, strikers Botero and Marioni left, he went forward-buying-crazy. Amongst these he was more than happy to spend two and a half million US dollars on Scocco.

As he arrived at Pumas they had a pre-season tour of Cancun ¡Que lindo!. From very early in the season it was clear that this young man was special. The first thing to notice is how exciting he is on the ball. In this he is refreshingly old-fashioned. There are none of the tiresome showboating antics of step-overs etc. He trusts his pace and ball control, and has a very deceptive cut back. Very exciting with his runs, they often finish with a blistering long shot.

He has a wonderful ability to steal the ball off defenders, which constantly keeps the pressure on them. His incisive and visionary passing can be breathtaking, and a joy for fellow forwards. He also possesses the quality of an out and out striker. He can peel off defenders like a phantom, and his first three goals this season were all headers, a beautifully placed header v Veracruz, after losing his man. A well won and blistering hard header v Cruz Azul and a wonderfully controlled header after finding space v Necaxa. He also has the classic poachers instincts, thinking a split second ahead of everyone else, popping up in the right place (incorrectly disallowed goal v Cruz Azul), and a range of finishes from the lethal killer, to the delicate (v San Luis) He has immediately stepped up as our number one penalty taker. His preferred method is that of the young, confident and skilful. He hits it very very hard into the roof of the net, as we have witnessed twice this year, v Peñarol, and v Tecos.

A handsome young man, with a Rush-like nose, he plays his football with joy, his floppy hair always topping a smile filled face. He has been selected for the Argentinean under 20 team and proudly wears the national flag tattooed on his right calf. At Newell’s he preferred the perennial cool-footballer’s rolled down socks, but maybe the rules are tougher in Mexico. Already this season he is Pumas top scorer with 5, but the arguments are raging as to whether he should play as a striker, in the hole, or as a midfielder. He is happy to play anywhere. In an interview in January this year, he mentioned that in the youth team he had often played in the hole, not as an out and out striker, often setting up goals, or making fakes for others to score. His last season in the juniors saw him second highest scorer in the league, and in the end he was joint 3rd in the senior Clausura 2006. His goal celebrations are understated, again no showmanship, simply reeling away arm aloft grinning, almost giggling, occasionally kissing his ring and the exuberant jigging run of a young man in a hurry. For me he is a proper forward, and should be played up front. He has been our best player and instrumental in our best season since 2004. I see a tremendously exciting future for this young footballer, but I feel “El Coco” will need to leave us for Europe in the next year or two to develop. I am writing to Peter Grant today.

Ignacio Martin Scocco
Date of birth: - 29th May 1985
Place of birth: - Hughes, Santa Fe, Argentina
Height: - 1.76 metres (5’ 9”)
Weight: - 71 kgs (11 stone 2 pounds)

Newell’s Old Boys:-
Shirt no 32
Started 62
Subbed on 19
Subbed off 31
Complete Games 31
Goals 20
Yellow/Red Cards:- 15/1

Pumas (up to 5th November 2006)
Shirt no 10
Started 13
Subbed on 3
Subbed off 7
Complete Games 6
Goals 5
Yellow Cards 5
Minutes played 1107

Total
Games 97
Goals 25