Former Ghana international Stephen Appiah has described ex-Italy and AC Milan midfielder Genarro Gatusso as the toughest opponent he ever faced.

Appiah recounted his ordeal playing against Gatusso during his days with Udinese in a game against Salernitana.

The World Cup winner was a member of the Salerno club and Appiah revealed it was difficult to play against the young Gatusso.

"The toughest player I faced was Gennaro Gattuso and that was when I played for Udinese. We faced Salernitana, a team from the Southern part of Italy and that was where Gattuso was playing at the time,"

"He was so difficult to play against and he even broke my tooth by the time match came to an end. He just would not allow you to go away with the ball.

"He was really the toughest among the likes of Emerson, Demetrio Albertini and the many others I came up against.”

The two went on to play each other severally even when Appiah left Italy for Turkey, he still came up against Gatusso.