Julio Hernan Rossi (born 22 February 1977) is an Argentinian former football striker. Football career Early years Julio Hernán Rossi began his professional career at Argentinian club Club Atlético River Plate in July 1995, as he advanced from their youth team to their first team. During his time with River Plate he had a six month unsuccessful loan spell at J1 League side Avispa Fukuoka. Lugano At the end of his contract Rossi moved to the Swiss Super League with FC Lugano in 1998 on a free contract. He quickly became a fans' favourite because of his skill, pace and goalscoring ability. He formed an effective striking partnership with fellow Argentine Christian Giménez and the team were placed relatively high in the league. Due to financial problems Lugano were forced to sell first Giménez and one year later Rossi. Nevertheless the club was later denied the licence for the top flight due to the financial problems. Without the two million that FC Basel transferred to Lugano for Rossi at that time, the club could have been hit even worse. Basel On 3 April 2002 it was announced that Rossi had signed for Swiss Champions FC Basel. He joined Basel's first team during their 2002–03 season under head coach Christian Gross. After playing in six test games, Rossi played his domestic league debut for his new club in the away game in the Stadion Neufeld on 17 July 2002 as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Young Boys. He scored his first goal for his new team in the away game in the Espenmoos on 27 July, it was the equaliser as Basel played a 1–1 draw with St. Gallen. Basel's 2002–03 UEFA Champions League season started in the second qualifying round. After beating Žilina 4–1 on aggregate and Celtic on the away goals rule after a 3–3 aggregate, Basel advanced to the group stage. They ended this in second position behind Valencia, but ahead of Liverpool and Spartak Moscow to advance to the second group stage. They ended this in third position behind Manchester United and Juventus, but ahead of Deportivo La Coruña. Rossi played in all 16 of these european games, scoring five goals. Basel ended their league season as runners-up, but in the cup they advanced to the final and here they beat Xamax 6–0 to defend the title. As cup winners Basel were qualified for the UEFA