Ignacio Alberto Piatti (born 4 February 1985) is an Argentine former 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 played as a winger.

Club career

Piatti has played professional football in Europe with

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the ...

and

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the provinc ...

. In his native Argentina, he has played for

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Greater Buenos Aires. ...

Gimnasia LP Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasia ...

, and Independiente. On 17 August 2012 Piatti signed for the Argentine club

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football tea ...

for a reported fee of €1 million. He debuted against Colon de Santa Fe in the sixth match of Torneo Inicial 2012, Ignacio was the player of the match. On 2 July 2014, Piatti signed a transfer agreement with Canadian club Montreal Impact of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

. However, he remained with San Lorenzo until the team completed their

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 ...

campaign. He reported to Montreal on 13 August 2014, and debuted for Montreal against the Chicago Fire on 16 August. When Piatti joined the Impact, he was an instantaneous success, scoring 4 goals in 6 games. He started all six games in the

2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League The 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2014–15 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons starting from 2015) was the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 50th e ...

Championship Stage and helped the team reach the final, where they lost out against Mexican giants

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football. ...

, recording two goals and one assist in 526 minutes played. He also helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Final of the

2016 MLS Cup Playoffs The 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) began on October 26, and ended on December 10 with MLS Cup 2016, the 21st league championship match for MLS. This was the 21st version of the MLS Cup ...

. He and the club mutually agreed to terminate the contract on 10 February 2020, allowing him to sign a new contract with first division Argentine club San Lorenzo. At the time of his departure, Piatti was the all-time top goalscorer of the Montreal Impact, with 78 goals in all competitions, and the second all-time assist leader. Piatti also ranked first in Impact club history with 130 regular-season starts, 66 MLS goals, 11,427 minutes played, 35 assists, 15 penalty goals, 15 game-winning goals, 13 game-winning assists, and 14 multi-goal games. He also registered five goals and three assists in eight starts in the MLS Cup playoffs during his time with the club.

Style of play

A dynamic attacker, Piatti is a technically skilled

dribbler In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

, who is capable of both creating and scoring goals, and is able to play in several midfield roles. Although he is capable of playing in the centre, behind another striker, he usually plays on the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in ...

, which is his favorite position, as it enables him to cut into the centre and shoot on goal with his stronger right foot; regarding his preference for this position, he has stated, "I played on the left for a long time, in Argentina, for example...I’d rather play on the left. I’m comfortable there." Although he is usually deployed in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

, Piatti has also been fielded in several more offensive roles, and has been used as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, as a false-9, or even as an out-and-out striker on occasion.

Personal life

Pedro, the grandfather and first coach of Piatti, died in March 2015. Piatti paid tribute to him by lifting his jersey to reveal the message ‘Abuelo te amo’, which translates to 'Grandfather, I love you', on a couple of occasions, most notably at Estadio Azteca after he scored the opener in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Finals.

Honours

San Lorenzo *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). T ...

: 2013 Inicial *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Montreal Impact *

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Amer ...

runner up: 2014–15 *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * MLS All-Star: 2016,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award The Landon Donovan MVP Award is an annual award for MLS players. It is voted on by ...

: 2016,

* Montreal Impact Most Valuable Player: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 * Montreal Impact Top Scorer: 2016, 2017, 2018 *

Top Scorer:

George Gross Memorial Trophy The George Gross Memorial Trophy is awarded to the most valuable player of the Canadian Championship. It is named after George Gross, a highly respected sports journalist who covered soccer for the '' Toronto Telegram'' and ''Toronto Sun''. The ...

: 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Piatti, Ignacio 1985 births Living people Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Association football midfielders Sportspeople from Córdoba Province, Argentina Argentine people of Italian descent AS Saint-Étienne players Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Chacarita Juniors footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers U.S. Lecce players CF Montréal players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Ligue 1 players Serie A players Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Designated Players (MLS) Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate soccer players in Canada