OYUN STİLİ VE GEÇMİŞİ:
Starring alongside childhood friend Mark Bresciano in Australia and Parma's midfield, Vincenzo Grella supplies the hard work and graft in The Socceroos' engine room that could be crucial to their success at the World Cup finals.
The 26-year-old is a tenacious tackler who does the dirty work and allows the likes of Bresciano and Tim Cahill to flourish, and after being something of a latecomer to the international scene he will be hoping to step out of the shadows in Germany.
"Vince Grella plays that holding role to perfection. His work rate is phenomenal."
Former Socceroo captain John Kosmina
Grella has always been a tough competitor in the centre of midfield, but doubts over his ultimate quality still persisted during a domestic career that included spells with the Victorian Institute of Sport, the Australian Institute of Sport, Springvale City, Canberra Cosmos and Carlton.
At Carlton he enjoyed the first of three club partnerships with Bresciano, and his bulldog attitude earned him a move to Italy with Empoli in 1998 as he joined the country of his parents' birth.
After also spending time at Ternana Grella's career began to take off in Italy, and in 2003 he made his international debut in the stunning 3-1 win over England.
Rumours of a move to Milan and Juventus soon followed but after Empoli's relegation in 2004 he joined Parma, to be reunited with Bresciano again, for a cut price sum of around €2.5 million (£1.7 million) as he filled the gap vacated by former Socceroo Paul Okon.
After playing eight games in the Gialloblu's run to the Uefa Cup semi-finals the following season, Grella joined Bresciano in remaining in Italy to aid his club's battle against relegation rather than participate in the 2005 Confederations Cup final.
However he is now stranger to international tournaments having played in two Fifa World Youth Championships as well as the 2000 Olympics, and Grella certainly can cope with the big occasion having made his Serie A debut against a certain Zinedine Zidane of Juventus.
His impressive range of passing and ability to patrol the deep saw him included in five of Australia's early qualifying games, and Guus Hiddink signalled his value to the team by also starting him in both legs of the play-off victory over Uruguay. In Germany his withdrawn style means he is likely to be pitting his wits against the mercurial geniuses of Kaka and Ronaldinho when the Socceroos play Brazil, and a commanding display from the Serie A regular could see him confirmed as one of his country's crucial performers. |