Gennaro Gattuso

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Gennaro Gattuso

Personal information
Full name	Gennaro Ivan Grozni Gattuso
Date of birth	9 January 1977 (1977-01-09) (age 32)
Place of birth	Corigliano Calabro, Calabria, Italy
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Milan
Number	8
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps (Gls)†
1996–1997	Perugia	010 0(0)
1997–1998	Rangers	040 0(7)
1998–1999	Salernitana	025 0(0)
1999–	Milan	282 0(7)
National team‡
1997–2000	Italy U-21	021 0(1)
2000–	Italy	070 0(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 October 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2009

Gennaro Ivan "Rino" Gattuso (born January 9, 1977 in Corigliano Calabro) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. His main position is defensive midfielder; however, he sometimes plays on the right side of midfield. Gattuso is a hard tackling defensive-midfielder and widely regarded as one of the most aggressive players. He currently plays for Italian club Milan, with whom he has twice won the UEFA Champions League, in 2002–03 and 2006–07, and also the Serie A title in 2003–04.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Gattuso started his career with Italian side Perugia, but transferred in July 1997, at the age of 19, to the Scottish team Rangers.

Walter Smith, who brought Gattuso to Glasgow, left the club in 1998. Smith's successor, Dick Advocaat, did not favour Gattuso and, after being played out-of-position as a right-back, the Italian was sold in October 1998 to then recently promoted to Serie A Salernitana for £4m. Despite his good performances, it was not enough to prevent the relegation of his side.

[edit] Milan

Milan signed Gattuso for £8m in 1999. His style allowed Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti to place midfielder Andrea Pirlo in a more attacking position. Gattuso plays deeper in midfield. He will often move forward to win the ball for the forward players and then return to his defensive position. His style of play is characterised by fierce tackling and hard work – a style which has earned him the nickname of Ringhio (the Snarler). He signed a contract extension in June 2003^[1] and in October 2004.^[2]

Gattuso playing for AC Milan.

In a UEFA Champions League group stage match against Ajax in September 2003, he was sent off during second-half injury time after slapping Ajax striker Zlatan Ibrahimović in the face with the back of his hand. His temper has caused him further problems when 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^[3] as a reaction to Poulsen's fierce marking of Kaká in the first leg. Gattuso insisted though that the press exaggerated the significance of the incident.

He played his 300th game for the club in a goalless Champions League draw against Lille on September 26, 2006, and he extended his current deal with Milan until 2011 on February 1, 2007.^[4] On May 23, 2007, Gattuso won the Champions League for the second time in his career when Milan beat Liverpool 2-1 in the final.

On 27 December 2007, Gattuso trained with his former club Rangers to regain fitness during the Serie A winter break whilst his wife was visiting family in Scotland over Christmas.^[5] The following December, Gattuso suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament early on in the 1-0 league win against Catania. However, despite the injury, Gattuso played the entire 90 minutes before being diagnosed by the club doctors after the match. He underwent surgery to repair the damage on 19 December 2008, in Antwerp. He was expected to miss up to 6 months of action, but managed to return to the Milan bench on 10 May against Juventus, a month ahead of schedule.

[edit] International team

Gattuso has been capped over sixty 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. He and Pirlo formed a formidable partnership in the heart of midfield. In the Euro 2008, when both of them had to miss the quarterfinal match against Spain due to accumulated yellow cards, coach Donadoni had a hard time finding replacements as none of the reserve players could match the lung-bursting contribution of the Milan duo. Italy went on to lose 4-2 in the ensuing penalty shoot-out. Gattuso achieved a measure of notoriety for his post-match celebrations after Italy won the World Cup in 2006, during which he removed his shorts and ran around the pitch pantless, until FIFA officials forced him to cover up.

[edit] International goal

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	November 15, 2000	Turin, Italy	England	1–0	Win	Friendly match

[edit] Career statistics

Updated to games played 23 August 2009.^[6]

¹European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup
²Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana, Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup

[edit] Honours

AC Milan

• Serie A: 2003-04
• Coppa Italia: 2002-03
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2004
• UEFA Champions League: 2002-03, 2006-07
• UEFA Super Cup: 2003, 2007
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2007

Italy national team

• FIFA World Cup: 2006
• UEFA Under-21 European Championship: 2000

Individual

• 2006 FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament
• 2006 FIFA World Cup Top 10 Players

[edit] Personal life

Gattuso is married to Monica, whom he met while playing for Rangers at an exhibition game in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The couple dated for a long while before marrying. They have a daughter, Gabriella, and a son, Francesco. Monica is the sister of GMTV's Los Angeles correspondent Carla Romano.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Gennaro Gattuso FIFA competition record
• Official website
• Footballdatabase profile and stats
• Eccezzziunale... veramente 2 - The Internet Movie Database

Italy squad v • d • e Italy squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 De Sanctis • 2 Grandoni • 3 Mezzano • 4 Zanchi • 5 Ferrari • 6 Gattuso • 7 Comandini • 8 Baronio • 9 Ventola • 10 Pirlo • 11 Zambrotta • 12 Margiotta • 13 Ambrosini • 14 Rivalta • 15 Cirillo • 16 Vannucchi • 17 Zanetti • 18 Abbiati • 21 Firmani • Coach: Tardelli v • d • e Italy squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 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 v • d • e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Oddo • 4 Zanetti • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Ferrari • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Vieri • 10 Totti • 11 Corradi • 12 Toldo • 13 Nesta • 14 Fiore • 15 Favalli • 16 Camoranesi • 17 Di Vaio • 18 Cassano • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Peruzzi • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Trapattoni v • d • e Italy squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Winners (4th title) 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 v • d • e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Grosso • 4 Chiellini • 5 Gamberini • 6 Barzagli • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 De Rossi • 11 Di Natale • 12 Borriello • 13 Ambrosini • 14 Amelia • 15 Quagliarella • 16 Camoranesi • 17 De Sanctis • 18 Cassano • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Aquilani • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Donadoni v • d • e Italy squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Buffon • 2 Santon • 3 Grosso • 4 Chiellini • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Legrottaglie • 7 Pepe • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 De Rossi • 11 Gilardino • 12 De Sanctis • 13 Gamberini • 14 Amelia • 15 Iaquinta • 16 Camoranesi • 17 Rossi • 18 Palombo • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Montolivo • 21 Pirlo • 22 Dossena • 23 Quagliarella • Coach: Lippi