Gennaro Gattuso: 100-word hero #23

As they face the footballing equivalent of scaling Everest, who better to focus on than the Rossoneri’s most ferociously determined Sherpa? The food-fetishist Gino De Blasio (@ginodb on Twitter and producer of My Little Vespa) is this week’s contributor…

Gennaro Gattuso, as Ligabue sang about Gabriele Oriali, “wasn’t born with good feet”.

But don’t let that fool you, for he is more than a midfield pace destroyer. A true “mediano” if there was any.

His antics in 2006, covering 16km against Germany helped secure Italy’s fourth World Cup.

He does nothing, and yet does everything. A midfield metronome, the heart of a team. A man with more passion than a Caravaggio chiaro-scuro, a symbol of calcio, a man of club, honour and country.

You may call him a beast, I call him an unsung great.

I salute thee Gennaro.

Read the rest of the series here.