Gustavo Boccoli

Gustavo Boccoli was born in 1978 in São Paulo

Boccoli was born on 16 February 1978 in São Paulo, Brazil, and grew up in a Christian family. He played futsal as a child and beach soccer as a teenager. He began playing football in 1998.

In the 1999/2000 season he went to Brescia in Italy but did not play because the foreign player quota was full. He returned to Brazil to play for Paraná. In 2001 he came to Israel and played for Hapoel Ramat Gan, Hakoah Ramat Gan and Maccabi Ahi Nazareth.

He joined Maccabi Haifa after Nazareth was relegated in the 2003/2004 season. He won 4 league titles and 2 Toto Cups with the club. League players voted him footballer of the year for the 2005/2006 season.

Boccoli retired on 24 June 2015 after 434 games and 39 goals for Haifa. He then became a scout for the club. He also hosted a weekly cooking segment on a Galei Tzahal radio show.

He first applied for Israeli citizenship in February 2006 and was refused several times. He received permanent residency on 7 July 2013 and became a citizen on 7 December 2013, together with his wife Jozi and son Gaby.