Gustavo Boccoli

Gustavo Boccoli (Hebrew: גוסטבו בוקולי‎; born 16 February 1978) is a retired Brazilian-born Israeli footballer. He was a versatile midfielder/forward who played most of his career for Maccabi Haifa.

Gustavo Boccoli
Personal information
Full name Gustavo Boccoli
Date of birth (1978-02-16) 16 February 1978
Place of birth São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2000 Brescia 0 (0)
2000–2001 Paraná Clube
2001–2002 Hapoel Ramat Gan ?? (9)
2002 Hakoah Ramat Gan ?? (6)
2003–2004 Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 63 (16)
2004–2015 Maccabi Haifa 434 (39)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 May 2010

Career

Boccoli joined Israel's Maccabi Haifa after his former team, Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, dropped to the second division in the 2003–2004 season. He won the 2004–2005 championship with Haifa. He can play in the centre midfield and as a winger and can also occupy the "Number 10 position" behind the striker.[1] During 2008, he drew more fouls than any other player in Israeli Premier League.[1] Boccoli was voted "footballer of the year" by the Israeli Premier League players in 2006,[2] after scoring 12 goals, assisting 9 goals and helping Maccabi Haifa to win its third championship in a row and a Toto Cup.

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 recent seasons Boccoli has started playing as a defensive midfielder and as a central midfielder. In this role Boccoli outstanding fighting spirit and motivation, expressed extracting a ball and press on the opposing team midfielders.

On June 24, 2015 Boccoli decided to retire from football. He will mostly be known for his 11 years with Maccabi Haifa, there he made 434 caps and scored 39 goals.[3]

Personal life

Boccoli speaks fluent Hebrew, and hosted a weekly cooking show on Benny Bashan's radio show called "Benny in the Radio" on Israeli radio station Galei Tzahal. After multiple attempts of application for 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 Israeli citizen on 7 December 2013.

Honours

References
  1. Harush, Moshe. "Aging Maccabi Haifa star Boccoli seeks that sweet spot on the field". Haaretz, 7 March 2008. Retrieved on 8 May 2013.
  2. UEFA. "Last-gasp González lifts Reds". 10 August 2006. Retrieved on 8 May 2013.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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