He showed off the best of his football skills exactly 25 years ago today when he scored an absolutely amazing volley in the Premier League.
From difficult beginnings to the Premier League
Paolo Di Canio was born July 9th, 1968, in Rome, in the district of Quarticciolo, a working-class area populated mainly by AS Roma fans. However, Di Canio started his youth football career at their city rivals Lazio.
As a young boy, he was addicted to sweet soda drinks, which caused him to have problems with being overweight. He also suffered from having knock-kneed legs. He needed to wear orthopaedic shoes.
He then corrected all these problems with hard work and a great desire to become a professional footballer. Overcoming these obstacles - in his own words - "made him to become the kind of person who he is."
Di Canio began his career in the Italian Serie A, playing for Lazio, then Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan, before a brief spell with the Scottish club Celtic. He subsequently spent seven years in the English Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Charlton Athletic.
He returned to Italy in 2004, playing for Lazio, and then for Cisco Roma on a lower level before retiring in 2008. During his playing career, he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals.
He primarily played as a deep-lying forward, but he could also play as an attacking midfielder or as a winger. Di Canio was regarded as a technically skilled player. However, as already mentioned, his image and football qualities are affected by his controversial behavior on the field and several notorious incidents.
Explosive character and controversy
One of Paolo Di Canio's most serious incidents occurred in 1998, when, as a Sheffield Wednesday player, he insulted referee Paul Alcock in a match against Arsenal at Hillsborough Stadium. Di Canio pushed the referee to the ground after being sent off. It resulted in an extended ban of eleven matches and a fine of £10,000.
However, Paolo Di Canio caused an even bigger scandal with his fascist gestures when celebrating goals and victories during his second spell at Lazio in Rome (2004–2006).
First, it is known that ultras fans of Lazio are close to fascism, but Paolo Di Canio himself has certainly never hidden his inclination towards far-right political views.
He used the Fascist salute, a gesture adopted by Italian fascists in the 20th century. Documented uses of the salute include the matches against Lazio's archrivals, AS Roma and Livorno, two clubs inclined to left-wing politics. Di Canio received just a one-match ban after the second event and was fined €7,000.
He was later quoted as saying, "I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people.
"I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values, values of civility against the standardisation that this society imposes upon us."
In his 2001 autobiography 'Paolo Di Canio: l'Autobiografia', he expressed admiration for the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Di Canio even had Benito Mussolini immortalized on his body in the form of a tattoo.
Many of Di Canio's other tattoos are also very controversial. On his right biceps, Di Canio has tattooed the Latin word 'Dux', or Italian 'Il Duce' (a nickname for Benito Mussolini), both meaning 'leader'.
His back is covered with a tattoo of fascist imagery, including an eagle, fasces, and a portrait of Mussolini. His arm tattoos caused a stir when he appeared as a television pundit in just a T-shirt on Sky Sports Italia. He was later suspended by the TV station.
Di Canio's famous volley
Despite all the controversies and manifestations of radicalism, Paolo Di Canio brought a lot of joy to the football world. As an attacking player, he scored quite a lot of goals, and one of them was truly exclusive. Paolo Di Canio scored it exactly 25 years ago, on March 26th, 2000.
It was in a match of West Ham United where Paolo Di Canio spent the longest spell of his professional career (1999–2003, 141 appearances, 51 goals). The Hammers were playing in the Premier League against Wimbledon.
Paolo Di Canio scored perhaps the most beautiful goal of his career already in the ninth minute of the match. A high cross came to the left edge of the box. It found Di Canio, who struck his volley with the outside of his right foot. The ball flew across the entire box and ended up in the goal at the far post.
Di Canio's goal was later voted the goal of the season and one of the top 10 goals of the decade of the Premier League in 2002.