Gennaro Gattuso

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. The move was controversial; Perugia, unsuccessfully, accused Rangers of signing Gattuso illegally and took their case to FIFA. Gattuso revealed that he initially refused to join Rangers but accepted the move after his father persuaded him to move. Gattuso made his debut for Rangers, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute, in a 3–1 win against Hearts in the opening game of the season. He scored his first goal for the club against Strasbourg in the first round of the UEFA Cup, as Rangers failed to overcome the deficit, losing 4–2 on aggregate. Gattuso received a red card for the first time in his professional career over a second bookable offence, in a 5–2 win against Hearts on 20 December 1997. He later scored two more goals for the club, including a brace against Hearts on 25 April 1998. This led him to being described as one of the club's "unsung heroes" by its chairman David Murray, who felt that Gattuso had "surpassed expectations by playing so many games aged 19". In the Scottish Cup final, Gattuso played the whole game, as Rangers lost 2–1 against Hearts. At the end of the 1997–98 season, he had made 40 appearances and scoring four times in all competitions. Walter Smith, who brought Gattuso to Glasgow, left the club in 1998. Smith's successor, Dick Advocaat, did not favour…

Youth

Gattuso represented the Italy under-18 side at the 1995 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship, where Italy finished in second place to Spain following a 4–1 final defeat; he also represented the Italy under-21 side at the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where Italy went on to win the tournament with a 2–1 victory over the Czech Republic in the final.

Senior

Gattuso earned 73 appearances for his country at senior level 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. On 23 February 2000, he debuted under Dino Zoff at the age of 22 in a 1–0 friendly home victory over Sweden, on 23 February 2000. The same year on 15 November, he made his first start for Italy later that year under Giovanni Trapattoni scoring the only goal in a 1–0 friendly home victory over England with a powerful strike from outside the area; this was his first and only goal for Italy.

2002 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2004

Gattuso made two substitute appearances at the 2002 World Cup, first in his nation's 2–0 opening group win against Ecuador, and secondly in Italy's controversial 2–1 extra-time defeat to co-hosts South Korea in the round of 16 of the competition. He also later appeared in Italy's two opening group matches at Euro 2004, against Denmark (0–0) and Sweden (1–1), but missed out on Italy's final match against Bulgaria (2–1) due to…

Considered by pundits to be one of the greatest holding midfielders of all time, throughout his career, Gattuso mainly played as a central or defensive midfielder, although he was even deployed on the right flank on occasion, either as a full-back, wing-back, or as a winger, due to his versatility. Despite not being particularly skilful from a technical standpoint (although he was able to improve in this area with time under the tutelage of Mauro Tassotti), or particularly tall, Gattuso was a physically strong, consistent, aggressive, and hard-tackling midfielder, with an extremely high work rate; he also possessed a powerful shot, and quick reactions, as well as an excellent positional sense and good anticipation, which enabled him to excel in this position; in his prime, he was widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. His energetic and combative box-to-box style of play, as well as his pace, tactical awareness and abilities as a ball-winner, allowed him to form a successful midfield partnership with playmaker Andrea Pirlo throughout his career, both at club and international level. Gattuso's deeper position on the pitch allowed him to support Pirlo and his other teammates defensively by breaking up the opposition's attacks; he often only advanced in order to intercept the ball and play it to one of his more creative or offensive teammates after winning back possession, subsequently returning to his more defensive midfield role. His tenacity on…

Sion

Gattuso started his coaching career in 2011 by attending a course for UEFA A Licence, when he still played for AC Milan. He passed the exam in July. 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 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. During 2013–14 season, he also attended a course for UEFA Pro Licence, after which he passed the exam in September 2014.

OFI

On 5 June 2014, Gattuso was appointed manager of Super League Greece team OFI. While managing OFI, in the first few months there were rumours that the…