Vince Grella

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Personal information
Vincenzo "Vince" Grella
Full name	Vince Grella
Date of birth	October 5, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Dandenong, Victoria, Australia
Height	183cm (6'0")
Nickname	Vinnie
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth clubs
1994-1999	Canberra Cosmos
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-2000 2000-2001 2001-2004 2004-	Canberra Cosmos Carlton S.C. Empoli F.C. Ternana Calcio Empoli F.C. Parma F.C.	36 (0) 150 (20) 4 (0) 92 (2)
National team
2003-	Australia	20 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Vincenzo "Vince" Grella (born on October 5, 1979 in Dandenong, Victoria) is an Australian football (soccer) midfielder who currently plays for Parma F.C. in Italy's Serie A and for the Australian national team.

Grella's family is of Italian descent. At age 14 he was the youngest football player admitted to the Victorian Institute of Sport, in Melbourne, ^[1] and he went on to train at the Australian Institute of Sport on a football (soccer) scholarship from 1996-1997. His previous clubs include Carlton and Canberra Cosmos in Australia and Ternana and Empoli F.C. in Italy. Grella joined Parma in the Summer of 2004.

Grella is a regular member of the 'Socceroos'; he represented the Australian Under-23's, the 'Olyroos', at the 2000 Summer Olympics and received his first senior cap in an international friendly against England in 2003, which Australia won 3-1. In November 2005, Grella played in both legs of the World Cup play-off against Uruguay, where Australia qualified for the 2006 World Cup for the first time in 32 years.

In Germany, Grella's displays in the heart of Australia's midfield earned him praise from many quarters, and he was named in a preliminary squad for FIFA's team of the tournament, the only Australian to make this list. His performance against Italy was singled out as one of the best performances by an Australian at the tournament

Grella and his Australian teammate Mark Bresciano were excused from the 2005 Confederations Cup by the then Australian manager Frank Farina to allow them to take part in a relegation playoff between Parma and Bologna. Grella has described Bresciano as "even more than a brother" ^[2] ; they played together at the AIS, Carlton and Empoli, and were reunited in 2004 when he joined Parma, before Bresciano moved on to Palermo in 2006.

On November 13, 2006 Grella was selected as captain for an international friendly in London against Ghana, making him the 51st player to captain Australia. This honour followed his being named as captain of Parma for the current season.

[edit] Trivia

Grella and his wife, Barbara, have twin daughters; Victoria and Sophia.

Grella first met Barbara while she was working in a shoe store in Italy, which Grella frequently visited to buy shoes following their first meeting.

Though listed as "Vince" while playing for Australia, his Australian teammates generally call him "Vinnie".

On the FIFA Football 2005 video game, Grella's name is listed as, "Vincenzo Grella"

Grella is also one of the only players that wears the captain's armband on his right arm, instead of the traditional left.

[edit] References

^ World Cup Dream - Grella's Family Migration Heritage NSW World Cup Exhibition 2006
^ The Brotherhood , The Age, November 18, 2005

	Australia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Schwarzer \| 2 Neill \| 3 Moore \| 4 Cahill \| 5 Čulina \| 6 Popović \| 7 Emerton \| 8 Skoko \| 9 Viduka \| 10 Kewell \| 11 Lazaridis \| 12 Čović \| 13 Grella \| 14 Chipperfield \| 15 Aloisi \| 16 Beauchamp \| 17 Thompson \| 18 Kalac \| 19 Kennedy \| 20 Wilkshire \| 21 Sterjovski \| 22 Milligan \| 23 Bresciano \| Coach: Hiddink