Gene Gnocchi

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Personal information
Gene Gnocchi
Full name	Eugenio Ghiozzi
Date of birth	March 1, 1955 (age 52)
Place of birth	Fidenza, Italy
Nickname	Gene
Club information
Current club	Parma
Number	52
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2007	Parma	0 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23/3/2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 23/3/2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Eugenio Ghiozzi (born on March 1, 1955 in Fidenza), best known by his stage name Gene Gnocchi, is an Italian television presenter and comedian.

Gene Gnocchi was born to a working class family. He was an aspiring vocalist in a rock band when he was younger, and also has a degree as a lawyer, however both these different roads produced quite unsuccessful results.

He took advice from the general public and took the road of a comedian. He started to appear on the then unknown stage of Milan's Zelig in the 1980s, as well as an emerging comedian on the Maurizio Costanzo Show.

Gene started enjoying success in the 1990s and now is mostly known for his role in Quelli che il calcio, a Raidue football-related TV show usually aired on Sundays.

[edit] The Serie A dream

During the 2006/2007 edition of Quelli che il calcio, Gene Gnocchi challenged the entire world of football, asking for an opportunity to play five minutes in a Serie A match. He wants to prove that he is a better than some of the overestimated Serie A players, and wants to remind that at the end of the day football is only a game.

A lot have encouraged this initiative, including Marcello Lippi and Alessandro Del Piero. Four teams, Atalanta, Bologna (of Serie B), Siena and Torino in fact offered a trial to the comedian.

On 23 March 2007, at 52 years of age, he finally signed a three-months contract with Parma, that is also his favourite Serie A team, for a yearly wage of €18,000, the minimum salary allowed in Italy for a professional footballer. He chose to wear the #52 shirt, referring to his age, with the name "Gnoccao", a spoof on Brazilian footballers based on his name.^[1]. He is likely to make his debut on the last league matchday, on May 27, 2007, against Empoli.