Ignacio Camacho Barnola (; born 4 May 1990) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
An academy graduate at Atlético Madrid, he made his senior debut at the age of 17. He spent the next three years at the club, making 50 appearances and winning Europa League and UEFA Super Cup titles. In 2011 he signed for Málaga, where he spent six and a half years and played nearly 200 official matches before joining Wolfsburg.
A full Spain international since 2014, Camacho previously earned 51 caps across the various youth levels for his nation, and was part of the sides which won the 2007 European Under-17 and 2013 European Under-21 Championships.
Camacho was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. Initially starting out at hometown club Real Zaragoza, he was spotted by Atlético Madrid and joined its academy. He made his first-team debut on 1 March 2008, starting, playing 68 minutes and being booked as the Colchoneros won 4âÂÂ2 at home against FC Barcelona; he had just signed his first professional contract two months earlier.
On 3 May 2008, one day shy of his 18th birthday, Camacho scored his first La Liga goal, netting twice in another home victory, this time 3âÂÂ0 over Recreativo de Huelva. After some excellent performances in his first season, he would however spend the following campaign restricted to Copa del Rey matches, with coach Javier Aguirre preferring Portuguese Maniche and new signing ÃÂver Banega; this situation would slightly improve in late February 2009 as new coach Abel Resino had a run-in with Maniche, leaving him out of the squad for the remainder of the season.
2009âÂÂ10 did not provide Camacho with the needed opportunities to progress; when healthy, he was mainly utilised in injury time of games. The next season, he appeared even more rarely â no minutes in the league whatsoever â and, in late December 2010, was transferred to Málaga CF, with his teammate Sergio Asenjo also making the move in a loan deal.
Camacho scored his first official goal for Málaga on 29 April 2012, from a Jesús Gámez cross in the 1âÂÂ0 home defeat of Valencia CF. He contributed 13 games and 811 minutes as the Andalusia team finished fourth and qualified to the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever.
In 2012âÂÂ13, Camacho started regularly for the Manuel Pellegrini-led side. In January 2013, he was a central figure in two of the three fixtures between Málaga and Barcelona: on the 13th, his backpass turned into an assist for Lionel Messi for the first in an eventual 1âÂÂ3 home loss. Three days later, he scored in the last minute to earn his team, by then reduced to ten men, a 2âÂÂ2 draw at the Camp Nou in the quarter-finals of the domestic cup (6âÂÂ4 aggregate defeat).
During his spell at the Estadio La Rosaleda, Camacho made 199 appearances in all competitions.
On 8 July 2017, Camacho signed for VfL Wolfsburg for a reported fee of around â¬10 million. The following month, he was named as the club's captain behind Mario Gómez and Paul Verhaegh, and made his Bundesliga debut on 19 August by featuring the entire 0âÂÂ3 home loss to Borussia Dortmund. A long-term ankle injury ruled him out for a large part of the campaign, but he returned in March 2018 as the permanent skipper after Gómez's departure to VfB Stuttgart two months prior.
Camacho announced his retirement in September 2020 at age 30, due to injuries. He underwent five surgeries in three years, but never fully recovered.
Camacho captained the Spain under-17 team to the title at the 2007 UEFA European Championship, scoring one goal during the tournament. He missed the 2009 European Under-19 Championships through injury.
On 7 November 2014, Camacho was called up to full side manager Vicente del Bosque's squad for matches against Belarus and Germany, He made his debut on the 18th against the latter, coming on as a half-time substitute for Sergio Busquets in an eventual 1âÂÂ0 friendly loss in Vigo.
Camacho's father Juan José was also a footballer, as older brother Juanjo. The latter was also a midfielder, who played for several Segunda División and Segunda División B clubs.
<small><sup>1</sup> Includes Copa del Rey, DFB-Pokal and Bundesliga relegation play-offs</small>
Atlético Madrid
Spain U17
Spain U21