Mariano Julio Izco (born 13 March 1983) 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 lea ...

. He also holds an Italian passport.

Club career

CA San Telmo

Izco began his career in the regionalised 3rd division of Argentine football with

Club Atlético San Telmo Club Atlético San Telmo is an Argentina, Argentine sports club located in the neighbourhood of San Telmo, in the City of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in Primera Nacional ...

, in 2000. The player went on to make 93 appearances, scoring 4 goals for his club, in 4 full seasons. In 2004, he was signed by

Club Almagro Club Almagro is an Argentine sports club from José Ingenieros, Buenos Aires, although its headquarters are in the Almagro, Buenos Aires, Almagro district. The association football, football team currently plays in the Primera Nacional, the secon ...

, of the

Argentine Primera Division Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Club Almagro

In July 2004, Izco signed for

, where he would play during the 2004–05 season. Izco made just 6 appearances, and could not help Almagro avoid relegation at the end of the season. With the relegation of Almagro, Izco was transferred to 2nd Division team

Club Atlético Tigre Club Atlético Tigre is an Argentine professional football club located in Victoria, Buenos Aires. Tigre currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football league system, having secured promotion as the 2021 P ...

Club Atlético Tigre

After a season in the top flight, Izco spent one season with

, where he made 27 appearances, scoring a single goal. After one season with Tigre, Izco was scouted by newly promoted

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club,

Calcio Catania Catania Football Club, commonly known as Catania, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in the city of Catania, Sicily, that plays in Serie C. Originally founded in 1908 as ''Associazione Sportiva pro Educazione Fisica'', the clu ...

and made his transfer to the Italian club in August 2006.

Calcio Catania

Izco officially transferred to the Sicilian club in August 2006, as the club looked for reinforcements following their promotion from

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

. Izco made his debut for the Catania in their 2–0 victory over

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. In his first season with

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, Izco made 19 appearances in the league under then-coach

Pasquale Marino Pasquale Marino (born 13 July 1962) is an Italian football manager and former player, currently in charge of club Salernitana. Playing career A midfielder, Marino started for his home team, Marsala. Marino never played in divisions higher than ...

, helping his team to a 13th-place finish. In his second season in Italy, Izco had a greater impact with his team, starting regularly, and helping his team to avoid relegation yet again. He made 32 appearances in the league under

Silvio Baldini Silvio Baldini (born 11 September 1958) is an Italian association football manager, currently in charge of club Pescara. Career Early years Born in Massa but hailing from nearby Carrara, Baldini started his coaching career in 1984 at the a ...

for the 2007–08 season.

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently club manager at Serie C club Siracusa. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best ...

took charge of Catania for the 2008–09 campaign, and Izco went on to make 27 appearances under the new coach, helping Catania to a 15th-place finish.

Gianluca Atzori Gianluca Atzori (born 6 March 1971) is an Italian football in Italy, football manager and former player, currently in charge of Serie D club Scafatese Calcio 1922, Scafatese. Career Playing Atzori started his professional playing career with R ...

took the helm at the club at the start of the 2009–10 season, but after three months was sacked as the club lingered in 19th place with just 1 win. On 8 December 2009,

Siniša Mihajlović Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian football manager and professional footballer who played as a defender. Mihajlović had an illustrious playing career, winni ...

became manager, and the club started off with a bang, as they defeated

giants Juventus 2–1, with Izco scoring his first Serie A goal. Izco managed just 15 total appearances during the

2010–11 Serie A The 2010–11 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 109th season of top-tier Italian football, the 79th in a round-robin tournament, and the 1st since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B ...

season for his club, helping lift the club to a 13th-place finish and a record points total for the club for a third consecutive season. Since his debut in 2006, Izco has been one of Catania's most valuable players throughout his stint at the Sicilian club, consistently being featured in the starting lineup. He was the club's

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...

and holds the club's record in number of league appearances in

. He was also part of a record-breaking Catania outfit that had picked up 56 points from 38

matches. This performance saw the club also break its record number of home victories in a single season, its record number of victories overall in a single top flight campaign, as well as its record points total in Serie A for the fifth consecutive season.

Cosenza

On 22 February 2019, he signed with

club

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

until the end of the 2018–19 season.

Juve Stabia

On 2 August 2019, Izco signed with

S.S. Juve Stabia Società Sportiva Juve Stabia is an Italian professional football club based in Castellammare di Stabia, Campania. Juve Stabia plays in Serie B, the second tier of Italian football system, following their promotion ahead of the 2024–25 sea ...

Return to Catania

On 9 September 2020 he returned to

and signed a one-year contract with the club holding an option to extend it for another year. On 9 April 2022, he was released together with all of his Catania teammates following the club's exclusion from Italian football due to its inability to overcome a number of financial issues. On 4 November 2022, Izco announced his retirement.

Personal life

He is the older brother of

Rodrigo Izco Rodrigo Ariel Izco (born 17 October 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Italian club Tivoli. Career Club Izco started his senior career with Comunicaciones, after youth spells with Huracán and San Loren ...

References

External links

Statistics
at Guardian Stats Centre {{DEFAULTSORT:Izco, Mariano 1983 births Living people Argentine men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Club Almagro players Club Atlético Tigre footballers Serie A players Catania FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Buenos Aires Naturalised citizens of Italy Italian sportspeople of Argentine descent Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy AC ChievoVerona players FC Crotone players Cosenza Calcio players SS Juve Stabia players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen