Emiliano Gabriel Vecchio (born 16 November 1988) is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays for

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Rosario Central

Born in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

, Vecchio began his career at hometown professional club

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the English- ...

, joining its youth ranks in 1997 at the age of nine. He progressed through the club's youth setup, also being a teammate of

Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Argentina national team. He can play as either a winger or attacking midfielder. Di María began his career with R ...

. On 6 November 2005 Vecchio made his first team debut, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Diego Calgaro in a 1–2 away loss against

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

; aged only 16, he became the fourth youngest to debut for the club. He scored his first professional goal on 1 March of the following year, netting the equalizer in a 1–1 home draw against

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

Spain

In January 2008, after a failed trial at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, Vecchio joined

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

side

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

. After suffering relegation with the club, he moved to neighbouring CF Rayo Majadahonda, in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

; he left the latter in 2009.

Grêmio Barueri / Defensores de Belgrano

In February 2009, Vecchio signed a one-year deal with

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

in March, being immediately loaned to Grêmio Barueri. After being rarely used, his loan was cut short early, and he spent the following six months practicing MMA fight. In 2010, after returning to his hometown, Vecchio joined

Defensores de Belgrano de Villa Ramallo Club Atlético y Social Defensores de Belgrano, mostly known as Defensores de Belgrano de Villa Ramallo, is an Argentine sports club located in the Ramallo Partido of Buenos Aires Province. The football team currently plays in the Torneo A ...

. With the side he scored in an impressive rate, netting a career-best 11 goals in 2011–12.

Chile

In 2012, Vecchio signed for Chile’s Campeonato Nacional side

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional association football, football club based in the Independencia, Chile, Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile. They currently participate in the Chilean Primera Division, Primera D ...

to face the Torneo Apertura and the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

. At the team led by José Luis Sierra in the age, he highlighted in both competitions. His first continental goal was against Colombian side

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

, scoring his side’s goal following a nice free kick in a 2–1 away loss. During the season, he scored six goals in 35 appearances and helped Unión to be runner-up of the 2012 Clausura. On 26 December 2012, it was confirmed that Vecchio alongside his teammate at Unión, Emilio Hernández, were the new signings of

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

for the 2013 season. After an irregular season for the club, the following year Vecchio was protagonist of the league title obtained, being an undisputed player at Héctor Tapia's formation. On 26 December 2015, he announced his departure after having altercations with the club's president, Anibal Mosa.

Qatar SC / Santos

On 20 January 2016, Vecchio joined

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club ( ar, نادي قطر الرياضي) is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 as a merger of two Qatari football club ...

, signing a six-month contract. On 10 May, he agreed to a pre-contract with

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

club

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a '' bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals i ...

, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal on 13 June. Vecchio made his debut for ''Peixe'' on 16 July 2016, coming on as a late substitute for

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

in a 3–1 home win against Ponte Preta. After being completely ostracized by

Dorival Júnior Dorival Silvestre Júnior (born 25 April 1962) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Playing career Known only as Júnior during his playing days, he was born in Araraquara, São Pau ...

, he started to feature more regularly under

Levir Culpi Levir Culpi (born 28 February 1953) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career Known as Levir during his playing days, he was born in Curitiba, Paraná, and started his career with ...

, and scored his first goal for the club on 19 July 2017 in a 1–0 home win against Chapecoense. On 14 August 2018, Vecchio was loaned to

Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai FC Shabab Al-Ahli Club ( ar, نادي شباب الأهلي) is a Emirati professional association football club based in Dubai, that currently plays in the UAE ADNOC Pro League. Al-Ahli is one of the most successful clubs in the UAE. Al Ahli FC ...

for one year.

Al-Ittihad

On 11 July 2019, Santos announced the transfer of Vecchio to Al-Ittihad Club.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Colo-Colo *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

(2): 2014 Clausura, 2015 Apertura ;Shabab Al-Ahli * UAE League Cup (2019) * UAE President Cup (2019)

Individual

* El Gráfico Magazine Awards: 2012 Team of the Season *SIFUP Awards: 2013–14 Best Left Midfielder

References

External links