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Vince Grella

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Vince Grella
Personal information
Full name Vincenzo Grella
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) [1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Free Agent
Youth career
1996–1997 AIS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1997 Canberra Cosmos 14 (1)
1997–1998 Carlton 23 (1)
1998–2004 Empoli 60 (1)
1999–2001 → Ternana (loan) 27 (0)
2004–2007 Parma 92 (2)
2007–2008 Torino 28 (1)
2008–2012 Blackburn Rovers 38 (0)
2012–2013 Esteghlal_F.C.
International career‡
1997–1999 Australia U-20 11 (0)
1996–2000 Australia U-23 17 (0)
2003–2010 Australia 46 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:50, 24 September 2011 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:00, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Vincenzo "Vince" Grella (born 5 October 1979) is an Australian footballer who plays as a midfielder.

He also plays for the Australian national team, and was selected to compete for his country in two editions of the FIFA World Cup, in 2006 and 2010.

Club career

Italy

He had a ten-year stint in Italy's professional leagues after beginning his career in the NSL. He has been a regular for Australia since 2003, playing in his customary defensive midfield position, and was involved in both the 2006 World Cup and the 2007 Asian Cup. Grella's friendship with Australian teammate Mark Bresciano is well known. Grella has described Bresciano as "even more than a brother"; they played together at the AIS, Carlton and Empoli, and were reunited in 2004 when Grella joined Parma, before Bresciano moved on to Palermo in 2006.[2] Aged 19, Grella made his debut in Serie A with Empoli, in a match against Juventus at the Stadio delle Alpi, where his first job was to mark Zinedine Zidane.[3] (Empoli held Juventus to a 0–0 draw).[4] Grella built up his reputation in Italy during his time with Empoli, to overcome initial doubts about his suitability to Serie A and earn the respect of the Italian media, coaches and fellow players.[5] Grella was widely linked with a move to AC Milan in 2003, although the proposed transfer never eventuated, and he moved to Parma a year later.[5] While at Parma, both Grella and Bresciano were excused from the 2005 Confederations Cup by the then-Australian manager Frank Farina to allow the pair to take part in a relegation playoff between Parma and Bologna–which Parma won, to avoid relegation.

Grella was named as captain of Parma for the 2006–07 season, and played a key role helping the team avoid relegation from Serie A for a second consecutive season.[6] On 20 June 2007 Grella signed a three-year contract with Torino,[7] one of several new signings made by The Bull.[6] The move to Torino was a free transfer due to the expiry of his contract with Parma.[8] During his one season in Turin, he was a regular member of the side, although his season was interrupted by injury on several occasions. He scored one league goal for Torino, a powerful volley from the edge of the penalty area, which cannoned in off the far post to draw level with Fiorentina. The goal was a candidate for goal of the month for January in Serie A.[9] It was only the sixth league-goal of his career.

England

On 26 August 2008, Grella joined English Premier League (at the time) outfit Blackburn Rovers on a four-year deal,[10] for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be around £4m[11] (with the initial fee later revealed as €4.2m),[12] having previously been linked to fellow Premiership club Fulham.[13] He joined fellow Australian Brett Emerton at the club. He made his first appearance for the club in a 4–1 loss to West Ham United at Upton Park, where he played the first 45 minutes, picking up a yellow card and providing an assist with a header for the only Blackburn goal, before being subsitituted at half-time for Keith Andrews. A calf injury kept him out of the side for a month following his debut, and he returned to the side in a 1–1 draw with Middlesbrough at Ewood Park, playing the full game in the centre of midfield. This was his home debut, and he was later named man-of-the-match for his performance.[14]

After the 2010–11 season, Blackburn Rovers revealed their desire to transfer Grella.[15]

International career

Grella is a regular member of the Socceroos; he represented the Australian Under-23s at the 2000 Summer Olympics and received his first senior cap when he came on as a second-half substitute in the international friendly against England in 2003, which Australia won 3–1 at West Ham's Upton Park stadium. 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. At the World Cup, Grella's displays in the heart of Australia's midfield saw him named in a preliminary squad for FIFA's team of the tournament, the only Australian to make this list.[16]

On 13 November 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 21 July 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 the end of extra time, with Japan eliminating Australia from the tournament in a penalty shoot-out. He has currently amassed 46 caps for Australia since making his debut back in February 2003.[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 August 2011.[18]
Club Season Division League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Canberra Cosmos 1996–97 NSL 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1 0
Carlton 1997–98 NSL 23 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 1 0
NSL total 37 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 2 0
Empoli 1998–99 Serie A 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Ternana (loan) 1999-00 Serie B 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0
2000–01 Serie B 19 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 21 0 3
Ternana total 27 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 3
Empoli 2001–02 Serie A 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
2002–03 Serie A 32 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 35 1 2
2003–04 Serie A 25 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 28 1 1
Empoli total 60 1 3 10 1 0 0 0 0 70 2 3
Parma 2004–05 Serie A 27 0 0 1 0 0 9 0 1 37 0 1
2005–06 Serie A 35 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 37 1 1
2006–07 Serie A 30 1 2 2 1 0 2 0 0 34 2 2
Parma total 92 2 3 5 1 0 11 0 0 108 3 3
Torino 2007–08 Serie A 28 1 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 32 1 3
Torino total 28 1 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 32 1 3
Blackburn Rovers 2008–09 Premier League 17 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 1
2009–10 Premier League 15 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 0
2010–11 Premier League 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
2011–12 Premier League 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Blackburn total 38 0 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 45 0 1
Career total 282 6 11 24 2 2 11 0 1 317 8 14

International

[19]

Template:Football player national team statistics |- |2003||2||0 |- |2004||8||0 |- |2005||6||0 |- |2006||9||0 |- |2007||7||0 |- |2008||4||0 |- |2009||6||0 |- |2010||4||0 |- !Total||46||0 |}

Personal life

Grella and his wife, Barbara, have twin daughters, Victoria and Sophia, born in 2002.[5] Grella first met Barbara while she was working in a shoe store in Empoli, Italy, which Grella frequently visited to buy shoes following their first meeting.

References

  1. ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  2. ^ The Brotherhood , The Age, November 18, 2005
  3. ^ Brown, C. Aussie hardman with touch of Italian class, The Independent, 12 Jun 2006
  4. ^ The Four Diegos... World Football Golden Soft Sombrero Moment with Vince Grella, The Four Diegos, accessed 29 October 2008
  5. ^ a b c Lynch, M. Grella's soccer dreams come true in Italy, TheAge.com.au, 13 February 2003.
  6. ^ a b FIFA Transfer activity gathers pace, FIFA.com, 22 June 2007
  7. ^ "Grella firma per il Torino". Official Torino F.C. website (in Italian). 20 June 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ The Age, Socceroo Grella signs for Torino, The Age, 21 June 2007
  9. ^ Goal of the Month: January, FootballItaliano.tv, 4 February 2008
  10. ^ "Grella signs for Rovers". Blackburn Rovers Official Website. 27 August 2008.
  11. ^ http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/3623923.Blackburn_Rovers_sign_Vince_Grella/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ "Ince seeking bargain recruits". football.co.uk. 2 October 2008.
  13. ^ Fulham target Grella Sky Sports News
  14. ^ "Rovers v Middlesbrough: Min-by-min". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 20??-??-??. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "A-League clubs alerted as Blackburn to offload Grella". tribalfootball. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  16. ^ AAP World Cup's over, now for South Africa, TheAge.com.au, 30 June 2006.
  17. ^ "Penalty heartbreak for Roos", SBS The World Game website he is Blackburn's new signing [1]
  18. ^ http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/vince-grella/leistungsdaten-detail/spieler_6021.html
  19. ^ http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=463

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