| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eugenio Ghiozzi | ||
| Date of birth | March 1, 1955 | ||
| Place of birth | Fidenza, Italy | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Nuova Verolese | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2007 - 08 | Parma | 0 | (0) |
| 2009 | Genoa | 0 | (0) |
| 2009 - | it:Nuova Verolese | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11/2/2009. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Gene Gnocchi (byname of Eugenio Ghiozzi; born March 1, 1955), best known by his stage name is an Italian television presenter, comedian and footballer.
Gene Gnocchi was born in Fidenza into a working class family. He was an aspiring vocalist in a rock band when he was younger, and also has a degree as a lawyer; however, both these different roads produced quite unsuccessful results.
He took advice from the general public and took the road of a comedian. He started to appear on the then unknown stage of Milan's Zelig in the 1980s, as well as an emerging comedian on the Maurizio Costanzo Show.
Gene started enjoying success in the 1990s and now is mostly known for his role in Quelli che il calcio, a Raidue football-related TV show with Simona Ventura, usually aired on Sundays.
During the 2006/2007 edition of Quelli che il calcio, Gene Gnocchi challenged the entire world of football, asking for an opportunity to play five minutes in a Serie A match. He wants to prove that he's better than some of the overrated Serie A players, and wants to remind everyone that at the end of the day football is only a game.
A lot have encouraged this initiative, including Marcello Lippi and Alessandro Del Piero. Four teams, Atalanta, Bologna (of Serie B), Siena and Torino in fact offered a trial to the comedian.
On 23 March 2007, at 52 years of age, he finally signed a three-month contract with Parma,[1] his favourite Serie A team, for a yearly wage of €18,000, the minimum salary allowed in Italy for a professional footballer. He chose to wear the #52 shirt, referring to his age, with the name "Gnoccao", a spoof on Brazilian footballers based on his name.[2] He was initially expected to make his debut on the day of the last league match, May 27, 2007, against Empoli. However, as Parma was still involved in the relegation battle, Gnocchi's Serie A debut did not happen. He made his debut with the Parma jersey on May 31 in a friendly match against Carpenedolo.[3]
In February 2009 he signed a six-months deal with Genoa CFC.