World Cup champion Italian footballer Gennaro Ivan Gattuso was born on January 9, 1978 in Corigliano Calabro, Italy.

On a squad with some of the best defenders in the world like Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and Marco Materazzi it is tough to stand out, but you can miss Gennaro Gattuso as his personality speaks for it's self, especially when he ran around pitch in Germany after winning the World Cup with no shorts on.

Gattuso has played with Italy's national team since 1997 where he got his start on the international level playing with the U-21 Italian squad. He made 21 appearances playing on the U-21 in three years, he then moved up to the senior team in 2000.

As a member of the Italian senior squad, Gattuso has played in 55 matches including appearances in the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004 tournament, but most notably was the match in Italy World Cup champion campaign against Ukraine where the defensive midfielder won the Man of the Match to help Italy knockout the Ukrainian squad.