Gennaro Gattuso Biography

Despite several years since Gattuso's retirement from football as a player, everyone still remembers him when it comes to biased players, especially defenders. This is exactly the legacy a player can leave behind.  Gennaro Gattuso was born on 9 January 1978 in Corigliano Calabro, a city in the province of Cosenza.

Gennaro Gattuso nationality

is Italian. He has started his football as he was turning into a young boy. His talents and physical strength gave him the opportunity to prove himself as a promising player in the competitive world of football.  like so many other footballers, he started his football career in low-level clubs. His first ever club was  

, the Umbrian side.

He played there from 1990 until 1995 and then as he was 19 he was transferred to the Scottish team

in July 1997 by Walter Smith- the Scottish former manager and director. He was not that much lucky in Rangers. As Smith left the club, the new manager could not get along with young Gattuso, so first, he was eliminated from team's arrangement and then was sold in October 1998 to then recently promoted Serie A club

for £4 million. Returning to Italy, was his turning point.  Stay tuned to read

Gennaro Gattuso biography.

All You Need to Know About Gennaro Gattuso biography

Gennaro Gattuso is a former Italian footballer who currently serves as the manager of Napoli. During his professional football period, he had made astonishing contributions to his ever home, AC Milan. It is almost safe to say that he was one of the best defenders in football, not in his generation but even in the history of soccer. 

Gennaro Gattuso Information

In this section of his biography, we have provided you some detailed information to get to know more about

Gennaro Gattuso life story.

Gennaro Gattuso Bio

• Full Name: Gennaro Ivan Gattuso

• Nickname: braveheart

• Profession: Professional Football Player

Gennaro Gattuso Physical Stats

• Weight: 77 Kilograms

• Height: 1.77 Meters

• Eye Color: Black

• Hair Color: Black

Gennaro Gattuso Football Information

• Position: Defensive midfielder

• Jersey Number: 8

• Professional Debut: 1999

Gennaro Gattuso Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 9 January 1978

• Birth Place: Corigliano Calabro, Italy

• Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

• Nationality: Italian

Stay tuned to read more about

Gennaro Gattuso biography

 and his early life.

Related Article:

Gennaro Gattuso Early Life

To start, let's go back to 

Gennaro Gattuso Childhood. 

Like so many other Italians, he was born with the gene of football. He had started his football in the youth academy of Umbrian side, A.C. Perugia Calcio, in 1990. For five years he had played at junior level and after that, he could break into Perugia's senior team as a right-back. Unfortunately, his promotion was not that much good, he played only ten games in the next two years, so he preferred to choose a different club to continue his football. His right decision made his path more successful that even now, he is one of the most popular players, despite his fame as an aggressive player. In the following section of

Gennaro Gattuso biography

, we would review his professional career from his early days until now. 

Related Article:

Gennaro Gattuso Profile

Following his departure from Perugia, he joined the Scottish club Rangers F.C. But as the club's manager left, his position got critical, despite his five goals in 34 matches for the Rangers. So that he left the side and join Salernitana. As a prolific defender who was gifted to play in different positions, he could spend a successful year in the newly promoted Serie A club Salernitana. His brilliant performance got the eye of  A.C. Milan. So, he was bought by

for €8 million from Salernitana in the summer of 1999  following which he made his debut for Rossoneri on 15 September 1999, in a 0–0 away draw with

in the

. That match was his touchstone to prove the proper choice of AC Milan's managers.

His techniques pushed him up to the main arrangement, so hecould break into the starting line-up that season. A month after his debut, he experienced his first Milan derby on 24 October 1999, during which he showed such influence and tactics, particularly as he faced Inter striker Ronaldo, who, at that time, was considered the best player in the world. After that match, he could earn praise from Milan fans.

Carlo Ancelotti who was Milan's coach at that time, soon understood that he could use Gattuso's work-rate and versatility as a ball-winner in favor of arrangement, so he had Gattuso played alongside Milan's greatest playmaker Andrea Pirlo.  So Gattuso could support him in a deeper role, as a defensive midfielder. Gattuso and Pirlo together made such an unbreakable partnership that was pivotal to Milan's domestic and international successes under Ancelotti's surveillance. During that golden period, Gattuso as an important Milan player could achieve the

, the UEFA Champions League, and the

in 2003, as well as the Serie A title and the

in 2004.

Following his glorious time at Milan, he signed a contract extension with the club in June 2003 and in October 2004.  Two years after that, on 26 September 2006, he celebrated his 300th game for Milan in a goal-less Champions League draw against

, an achievement which made him stay with Milan for more years, on 1 February 2007 he extended his deal with Rossoneri until 2011. Later on that season, he started training with his former club Rangers to recover fitness throughout the Serie A winter break. 2007 was at once good and misfortunate for him, after winning the FIFA Club World Cup, on 27 December 2007, he suffered a torn Anterior cruciate ligament early on in the 1–0 league win against

.

Despite his severe injury, he continued the match and played the entire 90 minutes, and as the match finished the club doctors diagnosed his injuries. On 19 December 2008 in Antwerp, Belgium, he had gone under surgery, but his physical strength did not let him down and he could manage to return to the Milan bench on 10 May against

, a month ahead of the calendar. During the season 2009-10, he started wearing the captain's armband, and meanwhile, he celebrated his 400th s 400th appearance with Milan. During that season, on 14 December 2009, Milan officiated that the popular Gattuso would remain with Rossoneris until 30 June 2012.

That season, was indeed the best spell in Gattuso's professional time. On 5 March 2011 in a match against Juventus, he scored Milan's only goal with his left leg, it had been after three years that Gennaro Gattuso could not score a goal with his left leg. Milan won the match 1-0. Following his success in that season, he celebrated Milan's 18th Scudetto victory after a scoreless draw against

on 7 May. 

The next season though was not a good one for him. On 9 September 2011, in Milan's opening Serie A game of the 2011–12 season against

, Gattuso bumped into teammate Alessandro Nesta. The crash was that strong that in the 20th minute he was substituted and diagnosed with a left sixth cranial nerve palsy, resulting in double vision. It was indeed a serious and frightening problem, he, later on, explained that he had a vision problem as the match began, that he had seen teammate Zlatan Ibrahimović in four different positions and as he could not see Nesta, he crashed into him. 

After that unlucky incident, on 11 May 2012, he confirmed that he would not expand his contract with Milan and he would join another team. On 15 June 2012, it was officiated that, Gattuso joined Swiss club Sion, although he was to join his former club- Rangers- the deal fell through because of the club's financial difficulties. He remained with Sion until 2013 and after that, he got retired. 

Style of Play

Everyone would know Gattuso as a physical player. During his professional career, he mainly played as a central or defensive midfielder, but sometimes he played on the right flank, either as a full-back, wing-back, or as a winger. Also, he could play as a central defender. Maybe we can not name him as a skilled player, but his physical strength helped him a lot. He was indeed a consistent, aggressive, and hard-tackling midfielder who was energetic and had a combative box-to-box style of play. As a defender, he had powerful shots and quick reactions which came in handy in his partnership with Pirlo, not only at the club's level but also in international games. 

Reception

His competitive spirit, determination, and leadership made him got famous as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, not in his prime, but even now. His impacts and influence on Milan's progress during its ups and downs made him one of the most popular and lovable players in football history. By his magnificent performances during the 2006 FIFIA world cup, he named FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. 

Goal Celebration

During his career as a defender, Gattuso only scored 13 goals and he did not have a specific goal celebration as his signature. Stay tuned to read more about Gennaro Gattuso biography and his life outside football.

Related Article:

Gennaro Gattuso Outside Football

Gennaro Gattuso's life is still woven to football. As his outside life, we can refer to the fish shop that he opened in January 2010 in Gallarate, Italy. It was a bit unusual for a player to run such a business, but the following quotation is his real feeling" “Someone might even smile at it, but this fish store is a dream come true for me. I wanted to become a fisherman when I was a child, but life’s events have later driven me in different directions,”. In the opening ceremony of his fish shop, some stars like Ronaldinho and David Beckham showed up.  Stay tuned, as we take a look at Gennaro Gattuso biography to have a better view of his personal life. 

Related Article:

Gennaro Gattuso personal life

Gennaro Gattuso is always so private about his personal life and relationships. He always keeps his life away from the lens of paparazzi and rumors. He was born on 9 January 1978, in the small town of Corigliano Calabro in Calabria, Italy to Francesco and Costanza Gattuso. During his childhood, he played football on the beach, before joining Perugia in 1990.

Gennaro Gattuso religion

is Catholic and during the time he was playing for the Rangers that has a Protestant identity, his teammates ordered him to take off his crucifix necklace.

It's been some years that he is suffering from an auto-immune disease that affects the extraocular muscles, which control the eyes and eyelids. It was started and diagnosed in Milan's opening Serie A game of the 2011–12 season against Lazio that he bumped into Nesta. He is still suffering from this disease which sometimes causes some problems for him. His disease was the reason that once during Napoli's match-as a coach- he was wearing an eye patch.

Family, children, and relationships

Gattuso is married to Monica Romano, a Scottish woman of Italian descent. His wife was born into a family of restaurateurs. His father in law was a millionaire restaurateur who died in 2011. Gennaro Gattuso and Monica Romano had two children from their marriage. Their first daughter Gabriela was born on June 20, 2004, and the second one, Francis, was born on November 8, 2007. 

Philanthropy

In football, it is almost common between the clubs and players to participate in charity activities. Players would sign their jerseys, in particular those that were worn during important matches, and sell them on special occasions. Gennaro Gattuso as a former player who had played in such important matches at clubs and national levels, several times signed his boots and jerseys to be sold in charity foundations. 

legal issues

Even though Gennaro Gattuso is well-known for his aggressive behavior, he does not have any legal issues throughout his personal and professional life. 

Related Article:

Gennaro Gattuso Career statistic

Following Gennaro Gattuso bio, in this part, we would have a rundown of his Career Statistics. 

Club

Gennaro Gattuso started his football in Perugia in 1990. After five years he got promoted to the senior team. In his first senior team Perugia - he made only ten appearances and he had scored no goal. In his second team, Rangers, he could make 34 appearances and scored 3 goals. After that, as he joined Salernitana, he made just 25 matches and had no record of goals.

It took nine years for him to break into Milan and became one of the Rossoneri's icon. During his golden time at Milan, he made 355 appearances and could score 9 goals. In the last year of his profession in Sion, he made 27 matches and scored one goal. 

International

Gennaro Gattuso's international debut was at the 1995 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championships, as he was invited to represent Italy's under-18 side. At the end of that Championship, Italy following a 4–1 final defeat against Spain, won the second rank.  He had gone through

side at the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and later on could break into

national team. He made his senior international debut under Dino Zoff, at the age of 22, in a 1–0 friendly home victory over Sweden, on 23 February 2000, and his first national team scored on 15 November in a friendly home match against England. 

Gennaro Gattuso was one key player of Italy in the 2006 World Cup. He won the Man of the Match award for his display in Italy's 3–0 victory in the quarter-finals of the tournament, against Ukraine.  His extraordinary partnership with Pirlo was one of the main reasons of Italy's Victory. 

Managerial

In 2011 he attended a course for UEFA A Licence and he could pass the exam in July.  On 25 February 2013, Gennaro Gattuso started his career as a coach in his last club as a player-coach. Later on, on 19 June, after Gattuso successfully rescinded his contract with Sion he got assigned as

's new coach. He later, attended a course for UEFA Pro Licence, after that he passed the exam in September 2014. 

Having passed his one-year spell with Palermo, on 5 June 2014, it was officiated that Gattuso would be the new manager of Superleague Greece team

. The situation in his new club was not that satisfying. The players and the coaching staff had serious financial problems. At first, Gattuso did not pay attention to the problem but following a 2–3 home loss to

, he resigned. 

On 20 August 2015, he was chosen as the manager of the then Lega Pro side

. He coached the club to Serie B promotion after beating out Foggia 5–3 on aggregate in the Lega Pro promotion play-off final. Despite his early success with the club, in July he left the club due to  "serious, constant and unacceptable" problems.

He later on, in May 2017 was appointed as the coach of A.C. Milan Primavera, the under-19 team of the club. He could manage to place the club as third (out of 16 teams) in the league's first division. Following the departure of Montella, on 27 November 2017 Gennaro Gattuso was chosen to coach his former club. A year later, his contract was extended to 2021 but as he missed out on the Champions League he left the club, and later on, on 11 December 2019, he joined Napoli as a coach. He is still Napoli's coach. 

Related Article:

Gennaro Gattuso honors

Gennaro Gattuso has won many team and individual honors during his career, both at the club's level with Milan and with Italy national team. In the early years of his career, he won the Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti in 1995–96 with Perugia Youth. With Milan, which was his home for almost 13 years, he won Serie A title in 2003–04, 2010–11, the Coppa Italia title in 2002–03, the Supercoppa Italiana title in 2004, 2011, the UEFA Champions League in 2002–03, 2006–07, the UEFA Super Cup title in 2003, 2007, the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007. 

With Italy's national team, in 2000 he could win the UEFA Under-21 European Championship, and later on, with the senior team, he won FIFA World Cup in 2006. He has also some individual trophies as one of the best players ever, he named the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 2006. He won the Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea" in 2012. He was nominated as FIFPro World XI in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. His name is also is on the A.C. Milan Hall of Fame. Gennaro Gattuso as manager won his first Coppa Italia title with Napoli in 2019–20.

READ MORE:

Follow 

for the