Gennaro Ivan "Rino" Gattuso, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian football manager and a former
player.
As a player, he mainly played as a defensive midfielder.
Despite not being blessed with notable technical ability, Gattuso was a strong, energetic,
consistent, aggressive, and hard tackling player with an extremely high work rate, who
also possessed a powerful shot, quick reactions, as well as an excellent positional sense and
good anticipation.
Due to these characteristics, in his prime, he was widely regarded as one of the best
defensive midfielders in the world.
He was also renowned for his competitive nature and his leadership qualities, often wearing
the captain's armband for Milan following Maldini's retirement.
During his career at Milan, he has won the Champions League, in 2002–03 and 2006–07,
the Coppa Italia in 2002-03, and also the Serie A title in 2003–04 and 2010–11.
In addition to these titles, he also won two Italian Supercups, two UEFA Supercups, and
a FIFA Club World Cup.
His talismanic midfield partnership with Andrea Pirlo played a key role in Italy's World Cup
victory in 2006 and Milan's successes both domestically and at European level, in particular
under Ancelotti.
Club career Early career
Gattuso was born in Corigliano Calabro, Italy.
He started his career with Umbrian 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 Serie A club
Salernitana for £4 million.
Despite his good performances, it was not enough to prevent the relegation of his side.
Milan Gattuso was bought by Milan for €8 million
from Salernitana.
A central or defensive midfielder, his box-to-box, ball-winning style of play, as well as his
tactical awareness and versatility, allowed former Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti to place
midfielder playmaker Andrea Pirlo in a more creative, attacking position, as Gattuso played
in a deeper, more defensive role in the midfield.
This position allowed Gattuso to support his team defensively in midfield, and he often
only moved forward to win or intercept the ball, and play it to the more creative or
offensive players on his team, subsequently returning to his more defensive midfield position.
His tenacious style of play was characterised by his fierce tackling, pace, stamina, and
hard work, a style which has earned him the nickname of Ringhio.
He signed a contract extension in June 2003 and in October 2004.
He played his 300th game for the club in a goalless Champions League draw against Lille
on 26 September 2006, and he extended his current deal with Milan until 2011 on 1 February
2007.
On 23 May 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.
The following December, Gattuso suffered a torn Anterior cruciate ligament early on in
the 1–0 league win against Catania.
Despite the injury, however, 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, Belgium.
He was expected to miss up to six months of action, but managed to return to the Milan
bench on 10 May against Juventus, a month ahead of schedule.
It was confirmed by Milan on 14 December 2009 that Gattuso would remain a Milan player until
30 June 2012, after adding one more year to his current contract.
The 2010–11 season with Milan was one of Gattuso's best seasons of his career, ending
a three-year goal drought with his left footed strike outside the box being the only goal
scored against Juventus on 5 March 2011.
Gattuso later celebrated another goal in a 4–1 victory against Cagliari with a long
distance header with the goalkeeper off his line.
Gattuso celebrated Milan's 18th Scudetto victory after a scoreless draw against Roma.
Gattuso had been experiencing vision problems in early September 2011, a few days before
the season kicked off.
On 9 September 2011, Gattuso crashed into teammate Alessandro Nesta whilst playing against
Lazio in Milan's opening Serie A game of the 2011–12 season.
He was substituted off directly afterwards in the 20th minute and diagnosed with paralysis
of the sixth cranial nerve, resulting in diplopia in his left eye, an injury that could have
ended his football career.
He later revealed that he had seen teammate Zlatan Ibrahimović in four different positions
during the opening stages of the match, and was unable to see Nesta, resulting in the
pair's clash.
On 11 May 2012, Gattuso confirmed that he would be leaving Milan at the end of the season.
Sion On 15 June 2012, after being released by Milan,
Gattuso joined Swiss club Sion.
He had been linked with a deal to join former club Rangers in Scotland, but the deal fell
through because of the club's financial difficulties.
On 25 February 2013, Gattuso was named as the new manager of Sion after manager Víctor
Muñoz was demoted to a scouting role after a 4–0 defeat by Thun in the Swiss Super
League.
Controversies
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 Champions League, Gattuso was seen seeking
out and taunting Schalke's midfielder Christian Poulsen as a reaction to Poulsen's fierce
marking of Kaká in the first leg.
Gattuso insisted, however, that the press exaggerated the significance of the incident.
On 15 February 2011, during Milan's Champions League game against Tottenham Hotspur, Gattuso
pushed Tottenham coach Joe Jordan away by the throat during an incident on the sideline.
Jordan was seen outside his allowed technical area exchanging words with Gattuso, in relation
to the relatively physical game that had been played.
After the game, after Gattuso had shaken hands with the Tottenham players, video footage
shows him confronting Jordan and head-butted him after another exchange of words, before
being restrained by both teammates and opponents.
"I lost control.
There is no excuse for what I did.
I take my responsibilities for that," said the 33-year-old Gattuso, but he also said
Jordan provoked him throughout the game but refused to say what his comments were.
Newspapers, however, reported Joe Jordan had been using racist, offensive calls for much
of the game by calling Gattuso a "fucking Italian bastard" from the sidelines.
The following day, it was announced that UEFA was looking at additional sanctions or punishment
for Gattuso's actions against Jordan the previous day and has been charged with "gross unsporting
conduct."
Gattuso was then suspended for five Champions League matches – one for yellow card accumulation,
the other four for the incident with Jordan.
The Tottenham coach also received a touchline ban by UEFA for his involvement in the exchange.
On 2 December 2012, Gattuso, in a game in the Swiss Super League, took the yellow card
from referee Nikolaj Hänni's hand and gave it back after gestures.
International career Gattuso was capped 73 times for his country
and played in the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004, the 2006 World
Cup, Euro 2008, the 2009 Confederations Cup, and the 2010 World Cup.
He was one of the key players in Italy's World Cup-winning team, winning the Man of the Match
award in the 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage match against Ukraine.
He and Andrea Pirlo formed a formidable partnership in the heart of midfield.
Gattuso achieved a measure of notoriety for his post-match celebrations after Italy won
the World Cup, during which he removed his shorts and ran around the pitch in his underwear,
until FIFA officials forced him to cover up.
In the Euro 2008, Gattuso played in the matches against Netherlands and France in the group
stage, but was suspended for the quarter final against Spain along with Andrea Pirlo, where
Italy went on to lose 4–2 in the ensuing penalty shoot-out after a 0–0 draw.
In June 2010, he announced that he would retire from international duty after the 2010 World
Cup in South Africa, where he participated in the match against Slovakia – his last
game for Italy Managerial career
Sion On 25 February 2013, Gattuso was named as
the new manager of Sion after manager Víctor Muñoz was demoted to a scouting role after
a 4–0 defeat by Thun in the Swiss Super League.
Gattuso became the fifth manager of the club in the 2012–13 season.
On 27 February 2013, Gattuso won his first match as a manager, beating Lausanne 2–0
away in a Swiss Cup match.
Gattuso was sacked on 13 May 2013.
Palermo Later in May 2013, he was heavily linked with
the managerial post at Palermo, after the Sicilians were relegated to Serie B. On 3
June 2013, Maurizio Zamparini confirmed he had a verbal agreement with Gattuso, subjected
to a contract release with then manager Giuseppe Sannino.
The appointment was made official later on 19 June, after Gattuso successfully rescinded
his contract with Sion.
Gattuso named Luigi Riccio as his assistant, with whom he worked at Sion.
His experience as rosanero head coach was however short-lived, as he was sacked 25 September
2013 after achieving only two wins and a draw in the first six games of the league season.
OFI Crete On 5 June 2014, Gattuso was appointed manager
of Greek team OFI Crete.
Personal life Gattuso is married to Monica Romano, a Scottish
woman of Italian descent, whom he met while playing for Rangers at an exhibition game
in Toronto, 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.
In January 2010, Gattuso opened a fish shop in his home town of Corigliano Calabro.
Honours Career statistics
Club
International
International goals
Managerial As of 25 September 2013.
Notes ^ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA
Cup ^ Includes Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Super
Cup, Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup
References
External links Gennaro Gattuso – FIFA competition record
Gennaro Gattuso – UEFA competition record ESPN profile