Vincenzo Grella

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Vincenzo "Vince" Grella (born on 5 October 1979 in Dandenong, Victoria) is an Australian football (soccer) midfielder who currently plays for Torino F.C. in Italy's Serie A and for the Australian national team.

[edit] Club career

Grella's family is of Italian descent. At age 14 he was the youngest football player admitted to the Victorian Institute of Sport, in Melbourne, ^[1] and he went on to train at the Australian Institute of Sport on a football (soccer) scholarship from 1996-1997. His previous clubs include Canberra Cosmos and Carlton in Australia and Ternana,Empoli F.C. and Parma F.C. in Italy.

Grella and his Australian teammate Mark Bresciano were excused from the 2005 Confederations Cup by the then Australian manager Frank Farina to allow them to take part in a relegation playoff between Parma and Bologna. Grella has described Bresciano as "even more than a brother" ^[2] ; they played together at the AIS, Carlton and Empoli, and were reunited in 2004 when he joined Parma, before Bresciano moved on to Palermo in 2006. He was named as captain of Parma for the 2006–07 season.

On June 20, 2007 Grella signed a three-years contract with the FC Torino. ^[3]

[edit] International career

Grella is a regular member of the Socceroos; he represented the Australian Under-23's, the 'Olyroos', at the 2000 Summer Olympics and received his first senior cap in an international friendly against England in 2003, which Australia won 3-1.

In November 2005, Grella played in both legs of the World Cup play-off against Uruguay, where Australia qualified for the 2006 World Cup for the first time in 32 years.

In Germany, Grella's displays in the heart of Australia's midfield earned him praise from many quarters^{[citation needed]}, and he was named in a preliminary squad for FIFA's team of the tournament, the only Australian to make this list. His performance against Italy was singled out as one of the best performances by an Australian at the tournament.^{[citation needed]}

On November 13, 2006 Grella was selected as captain for an international friendly in London against Ghana, making him the 51st player to captain the Australia football team.

On July 21, 2007 in Hanoi, Vietnam, Grella was sent off in the 76th minute of Australia's 2007 Asian Cup quarter-final against Japan. Leaping for a header, Grella's forearm connected with Naohiro Takahara's head, who had come from behind Grella, sending the latter to the ground. The game was 1-1 at the time and remained that way until full time, and extra time, with Japan eliminating Australia from the tournament in a penalty shoot-out ^[4].

[edit] Personal life

Grella and his wife, Barbara, have twin daughters; Victoria and Sophia. Grella first met Barbara while she was working in a shoe store in Italy, which Grella frequently visited to buy shoes following their first meeting.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Grella is also one of the only players that wears the captain's armband on his right arm, instead of the traditional left.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Torino profile
• Oz Football profile
• FFA - Socceroo profile
• Article on SMH
• Article on The Age

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