Gustavo Boccoli (; born 16 February 1978) is a retired Brazilian-Israeli footballer. He was a versatile

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who played most of his career for

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

Early and personal life

After multiple attempts of application for Israeli citizenship, and after he was given only a temporary resident status, Boccoli was given a permanent resident status and an Israeli ID card on 7 July 2013. He finally became a legitimate

Naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of Israel on 7 December 2013. He resided in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, Israel, with his wife Jozi and son Gaby.

Club career

Boccoli joined Israel's

after his former team, Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, dropped to the second division in the 2003–04 season. He won the 2004–05 championship with Haifa. He could play in

central midfield In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and as a winger and can also occupy the "Number 10 position" behind the striker.Harush, Moshe
"Aging Maccabi Haifa star Boccoli seeks that sweet spot on the field"
''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', 7 March 2008. Retrieved on 8 May 2013. During 2008, he drew more fouls than any other player in

. Boccoli was voted "footballer of the year" by the Israeli Premier League players in 2006, after scoring 12 goals, assisting 9 goals and helping Maccabi Haifa to win its third championship in a row and a

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

. On 24 June 2015, Boccoli retired from playing. He will mostly be known for his 11 years with Maccabi Haifa, there he made 434 caps and scored 39 goals.

Style of play

Boccoli played most of his career as a right winger. He is a box-to-box player, running along the right wing non-stop, has great dribbling ability and good technique, and really keeps good physical fitness. Boccoli can shoot from distance, and he scored many goals from outside the box. He also excels in extracting offenses, as his defenders find it difficult to guard him. In later seasons Boccoli started playing as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. In this role he outstanding fighting spirit and motivation, expressed extracting a ball and press on the opposing team midfielders.

Later career

Boccoli also speaks

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, and hosted a weekly cooking show on Benny Bashan's radio show called ''Benny in the Radio'' on Israeli radio station

Galei Tzahal Israeli Army Radio ( lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz (), is a nationwide state funded Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic reports and educa ...

. He was appointed as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for Israeli club

, after his retirement as a football player.

Honours

(4): **2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11 *

(2): **2005–06, 2007–08

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boccoli, Gustavo 1978 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from São Paulo Men's association football midfielders Israeli Premier League players Liga Leumit players Brescia Calcio players Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. players Hakoah Maccabi Ramat Gan F.C. players Maccabi Akhi Nazareth F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Israeli people of Brazilian descent Naturalized citizens of Israel Israeli Footballer of the Year recipients