Gennaro Gattuso

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Gennaro Gattuso
Personal information
Full name Gennaro Ivan Gattuso
Date of birth 9 January 1978
Place of birth Corigliano Calabro, Italy
Height 1.77 m (5' 10")
Nickname Rino, Ringhio, Braveheart, The Snarling Dog
Position Midfielder
Club information
Current club A.C. Milan
Number 8
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
1994-1997
1997-1998
1998-1999
1999-		 A.C. Perugia
Rangers FC
Salernitana
A.C. Milan		 10 (0)
40 (7)
25 (0)
203 (5)
National team**
1997-2000
2000-		 Italy U-21
Italy		 21 (1)
50 (1) [1]

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 20 August 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of 11 October 2006.

Gennaro "Rino" Ivan Gattuso (born January 9, 1978 in Corigliano Calabro) is an Italian World Cup winning footballer. His position is a defensive midfielder. He currently plays for A.C. Milan, with whom he won the UEFA Champions League in the season 2002/2003 and "Scudetto" in the 2003/04 season.

Contents

[edit] Club

Gattuso started his career at the Italian side Perugia, but transferred in July 1997 at the age of 19 to the Scottish team Rangers. Gattuso won the admiration of Rangers fans while in Glasgow, and his 'ultra-aggressive' playing technique has been put down to the training he received there. He also credits the one-time Rangers manager Walter Smith as a great influence, and describes him as a 'second father'.

Smith's successor as Rangers manager, Dick Advocaat, did not favour Gattuso. After being played 'out-of-position' as a right-back, Gattuso was sold in October 1998 to Salernitana for £3m.

Milan spent £8m on Gattuso in 1999. His footballing ability has improved since moving to a more pass-orientated Milan side. His style allowed Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti to place the attacking Andrea Pirlo to adopt a defensive formation. Gattuso, who sometimes is listed as a winger, does not send too many crosses like a typical winger would normally send. Instead, Gattuso plays a deeper role and moves up to the center of the field in defence. He often moves forward to win the ball for the forward players, and then returns to his defensive position.

In December 2005, at the final whistle of Milan's 3-2 defeat of Schalke 04 in the UEFA Champions League, Gattuso was seen seeking out and taunting Schalke's midfielder Christian Poulsen[2] as a reaction to Poulsen's taunting (and hindering) of Kakà in the first leg. Gattuso insisted that the press blew his comments way out of proportion. However, his temper occasionally gets the best of him; in a Champions League group stage match against AFC Ajax in September 2003, he was sent off in the midst of second-half injury time after backhanding Ajax striker Zlatan Ibrahimović in the face.

The British press has also often stated his alleged wish to join Manchester Utd, although Gattuso has often publicly denounced these rumours. [2], stating "I am certain that I will remain at AC Milan and that I will play in Serie A next season.". However he has recently stated a desire to rejoin Rangers, where he quotes "I don't know when it will happen but it will happen". The Italian still holds major ties with Rangers and clearly believes he has unfinished business at Ibrox.[3] He later went back on the claim.[4].

He played his 300th game for Milan in a 0-0 Champions League draw against Lille on September 26, 2006.

[edit] Country

The current high profile Gattuso now enjoys is due to his time at Milan and his participation as part of the Italian national squad. He has been capped over fifty times for his country and played in the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2002 World Cup, the Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, being one of the key players for the Italian team, winning the Man of the Match award in the 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage match against Ukraine.

Gattuso gained a measure of notoriety for his postmatch celebration after Italy won the World Cup, during which he removed his shorts and ran around the pitch pantless, until FIFA officials forced him to cover up. He was also one of a group of Italy players who shaved their heads as part of the celebration. He has been praised for his hard-working, strong but respectable style of playing - which, over the years, earned him the nickname of Ringhio ("Growl", or "the Snarler").

[edit] Trivia

  • Gattuso is the brother-in law to GMTV 's LA correspondent Carla Romano.
  • He was one of several Milan players to make cameo appearances in the 2006 Italian football movie "Eccezzziunale... veramente: capitolo secondo... me".
  • Gattuso still has links to Glasgow after marrying long-time girlfriend Monica, whom he met while playing for Rangers. They have one daughter, Gabriela.
  • Gattuso was pranked on the hit Italian TV show "Scherzi a Parte".

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Source: [1]
  2. ^ (Danish) Poulsen: Gattuso opførte sig som et barn, published by Danmarks Radio, December 6, 2005

[edit] External links


Italy Italy squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Italy

1 Buffon | 2 Panucci | 3 Maldini | 4 Coco | 5 Cannavaro | 6 Zanetti | 7 Del Piero | 8 Gattuso | 9 Inzaghi | 10 Totti | 11 Doni | 12 Abbiati | 13 Nesta | 14 Di Biagio | 15 Iuliano | 16 Di Livio | 17 Tommasi | 18 Delvecchio | 19 Zambrotta | 20 Montella | 21 Vieri | 22 Toldo | 23 Materazzi | Coach: Trapattoni
Italy Italy squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Champions (4th Title) Italy

1 Buffon | 2 Zaccardo | 3 Grosso | 4 De Rossi | 5 Cannavaro | 6 Barzagli | 7 Del Piero | 8 Gattuso | 9 Toni | 10 Totti | 11 Gilardino | 12 Peruzzi | 13 Nesta | 14 Amelia | 15 Iaquinta | 16 Camoranesi | 17 Barone | 18 Inzaghi | 19 Zambrotta | 20 Perrotta | 21 Pirlo | 22 Oddo | 23 Materazzi | Coach: Lippi
A.C. Milan - Current Squad

1 Dida | 2 Cafu | 3 Maldini | 4 Kaladze | 5 Costacurta | 7 Oliveira | 8 Gattuso | 9 Inzaghi | 10 Seedorf | 11 Gilardino | 13 Nesta | 15 Borriello | 16 Kalac | 17 Šimić | 18 Jankulovski | 19 Favalli | 20 Gourcuff | 21 Pirlo | 22 Kaká | 23 Ambrosini | 25 Bonera | 27 Serginho | 28 Guerci | 29 Fiori | 30 Facchin | 31 Antonelli | 32 Brocchi | 33 Di Gennaro | 34 Bottini | 35 Aubameyang | 36 Darmian | 37 Bruscagin | 38 Lunati | 39 Vitofrancesco | Coach: Ancelotti
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