Ignacio Scocco He takes one of the Europaris balls that surround him, places it outside the area and kicks. Clank. Crossbar. “This one comes out pretty”, he says about the Münich model without clarifying where he had decided to go. When he takes the second and the same thing happens, those present share a smile and a knowing look. When the third brushes against the pipe and the fourth hits there again, with more force and greater noise, there are no longer any doubts about the shocking precision of one of the finest and most elegant players that Argentine football has produced in the last 20 years.
Then he decides to start kicking the sticks, the final test that defines that these balls will become part of the world. Scocco, in this case in the Hughes F.C.the club of his loves where the former Newell’s and River star is a fundamental part, in this new stage of his life that he decided to start, after retirement, in his beloved town in the south of Santa Fe.
Your place in the world. “My wife and I always returned to Hughes. Even when I played abroad and we had a month’s vacation, we chose the town. Here we have both of our families, our friends, the club…”, says Nacho, even going further in his explanation.
”I was so attached that it was always difficult for me to generate a group of friends outside the town. It’s not good and it’s a bit strange, but it happened to me and it was probably because I always thought about going back and resuming relationships, being and returning to life here. Always feeling like I was going to come back made it difficult for me to deepen relationships,” she admits.
Nacho was preparing for what would come after retirement, in 2021. “Since 2017, when I got involved in Hughes F.C.. With several friends we got involved in the commission, first in the assembly and remote management. And then, when I retired, I was already fully involved in coordinating all the football and playing on the team,” says the man who played two years in the local First Division and now returned, after taking the first months of the year off.
“I’m already tired of training, but the motivation of winning a title with the club keeps me active,” he says while reporting that the club is third -among 15- in the Venadense league. To make it, Nacho is in all the details: the grass on the field looks beautiful, after being reseeded, and he has just acquired the Europaris professional balls, among other issues that seek to enhance the club’s football. An agreement with River is what is coming…
Beyond his commitment to the club, Nacho tells what he is passionate about living in a town of 7,000 inhabitants. “My day to day life is the most normal thing there is. I get up, do the errands, take my little girl to the garden. With her I am precisely enjoying myself like I couldn’t with the older ones, because of the trips, concentrations and matches. The idea of these first years was to not have schedules, to be at home a lot, to enjoy other things. In short, I have a life that I couldn’t have before,” she says while adding one thing that is important.
In Hughes it is not Ignacio Scocco the soccer star but the same Nacho as always. “I like a low profile, not feeling watched, and here people treat me like one of them, like Nacho as a boy. And that makes me enjoy everything,” he says.
The luxurious striker scored 192 goals in 547 games – 17 years of professional career -, winning seven titles. In Newell’s he had four stages, with 78 in 214 while in River he added 38, including five in a Copa Libertadores match, and also five championships. He also played for five clubs abroad and briefly for the National Team. After hanging up his boots three years ago, Scocco tells what he misses and what he doesn’t about that stage.
“For one of the things I stopped because I no longer wanted to go to training every day and I didn’t feel like dealing with the anxiety and nerves of game day either. All of that was already difficult for me, although it didn’t hurt me when I entered the field. In the town I continue training and I still feel that tingling in my tummy but it’s not the same… Yes, on the other hand, I get the urge when I watch games on Sundays. “You miss the game, being on the field, scoring a goal, the field full…” he acknowledges.
Nacho got into the famous topic of pressure, something that marked him with fire. “It’s so much that, no matter how well it goes for you, it becomes difficult for you to enjoy it.. I had glorious times at Newell’s and the most important in the history of River, but everything is so dynamic that you don’t get to enjoy it. In 2013 we left out Boca de la Libertadores and three days later an important match in the local tournament. We were champions and we still had the cup left. You never stop or finish.
The same in River. We were champions in Madrid and days later we had the Club World Cup. And then the Cup Winners’ Cup. We won it and we had to win the local tournament. I’m not telling you it’s not pretty, it’s beautiful. But you don’t get to enjoy it as you should because of that pressure,” she says.
One stage ended and another began, totally different in pressure and adrenaline. “In the town I found a competitive league, more semi-professional, where you train every day, the player takes care of himself and plays with intensity.. Luckily I did not suffer the aggression, neither physical nor verbal. Nothing is the same, but the adrenaline continues to come and I maintain the dream of being able to achieve something with my hometown club. That gives me energy to continue a little more,” she clarifies.
In addition to living in the present, Scocco plan the future. “I have very interesting projects with football, because I know what I like, especially training children, being able to help them reach professional football, the dream of many,” he comments and then gives more details of his idea. “It would be taking advantage of the contacts I have in professionalism so that important clubs come to Hughes. River and Newell’s were there, Banfield and Sarmiento too. We are in a plan of facilities so that the boys can show themselves”, he completes while grabbing another Euro and taking off for the race. This time he goes to the angle. “I like goals more than the crossbar,” he says, smiling, as he heads to the locker room.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
