At the age of 16, Chacana began training with Club Atlético San Martín de Tucumán after being pressured to by his grandfather. The club supplied Chacana with a pair of football boots and occasionally with transportation to training. In 1997, he played his first professional match for San Martín in a Primera B Nacional match. Slowly, he cracked the first team and started to score goals. During a league match against Club Atlético Tucumán, officials from River Plate were impressed by his play. The next day Chacana found himself on a bus to Buenos Aires.