Two years ago, Rocha were playing in the final of the Uruguayan championship and qualified for the South American Libertadores Cup, the region's equivalent of the Champions League (pictured).
Even then, the club lived a precarious existence. The players shared their training pitch with a herd of cattle and when they reached the final by winning the Apertura tournament -- the first stage of the 2005/06 championship -- they celebrated by completing a lap of honour with a cow in tow.
As so often in South America's impoverished club football, success failed to breed more success and after briefly flirting with glory, Rocha, based in the sleepy town of the same name some 220 kms east of Montevideo, fell on hard times once again.
Now they are back in the second division after being relegated two seasons ago and the credit crunch is unlikely to make the slightest difference to a club who were struggling long before this year's financial crash.
"This is all the players have for muscle-strengthening exercises," lamented Scaffo before a recent game at home to Atenas.
"$12,000 is probably one tenth of what David Beckham earns," he added. "But things are so dissimilar. European football has nothing to do with football from other countries such as Uruguay. The reality is completely different."
"Our country is better known for football than for anything else," he said. "Ask someone how they first heard of Uruguay and they will probably say soccer."
For years, the country's two major clubs Penarol and Nacional dominated the South American Libertadores Cup, winning the title eight times between them including four during the 1980s.
