Gennaro Gattuso

Gennaro Ivan "Rino" Gattuso, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born January 9, 1978 in Corigliano Calabro) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. His position is a defensive midfielder; however, he sometimes plays on the right side of midfield. He currently plays for A.C. Milan, with whom he won the UEFA Champions League in both the 2002/03 and 2006/07 seasons and Serie A in 2003/2004.

Biography

Gattuso started his career at the 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 Salernitana for £4m.


AC Milan

Milan spent £8m on Gattuso in 1999. His footballing ability has improved since moving to the more pass-orientated Milan side. His style allowed Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti to place the midfielder Andrea Pirlo to adopt an attacking approach. Gattuso, who sometimes is listed as a winger, does not deliver many crosses in a way the more conventional winger would normally do. Instead, he plays deeper moving up to central midfield in defence. 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 ("Growl" or "the Snarler").

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 as a reaction to Poulsen's taunting of Kakà in the first leg. Gattuso insisted though that the press exaggerated the significance of the incident. However, his temper has caused him problems in the past. In a Champions League group stage match against AFC Ajax in September 2003, he was sent off during second-half injury time after striking Ajax striker Zlatan Ibrahimović in the face with the back of his hand.

The British press has frequently reported that his ambition is to join Manchester United, although Gattuso has publicly denied these rumours, 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 also 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. He later went back on the claim.

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.

On May 23, 2007, Gattuso won the Champions League for the second time in his career when AC Milan beat Liverpool 2-1 in the final (see here).

International

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 achieved 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.

Personal life

Gattuso is married to Monica, whom he met while playing for Rangers. The couple dated for a long while before marrying, and have one daughter, Gabriela. Monica is the sister of GMTV's Los Angeles correspondent Carla Romano.

Gattuso and several of his teammates shaved their heads during a post-match celebration after winning the 2006 World Cup. He continues to keep his hair closely cropped today in honour of the occasion.