Paolo Di Canio
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Paolo Di Canio (born July 9, 1968 in Rome) is an Italian football player who currently plays for the Italian Serie A club Lazio.
Paolo has had a chequered career, in which time he has won many honours and been selected for his national team, but also been the centre of much controversy, such as assaulting a referee during a game and has recently been accused of making Fascist gestures to celebrate his team winning last Rome derby against arch-rivals AS Roma. He is known to be outspoken and passionate, and is famous for his on- and off-field flair.
He signed for Lazio in 1985, where he remained until 1990, moving to one of the Italian giants Juventus. He stayed there until 1993 and successive seasons saw him join first Napoli and then AC Milan. In 1996 he joined Celtic in Scotland, and his successful season in Glasgow (scoring 15 goals in 37 appearances) saw him make a move to the Premiership as he joined Sheffield Wednesday.
In the United Kingdom, Di Canio is famous for an incident on the pitch in 1998 where he pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground after being sent off while playing for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal. In January 1999, Di Canio signed for West Ham United and helped them to achieve a high league position (5th) and qualify for the UEFA cup. He scored the BBC Goal of the Season in 2000 with a magnificent volley against Wimbledon, which is still considered among the best goals in Premiership history. In this season he was also voted Hammer of the Year by the club's fans.
In 2001, he won the FIFA Fair Play award. The previous December, in a match against Everton, in an impressive display of sportsmanship, Di Canio shunned a clear goalscoring opportunity and instead picked the ball up while the Everton goalkeeper was lying injured on the ground. FIFA described the act as "a special act of good sportsmanship." He remained at West Ham until 2003 when, following West Ham's relegation, he signed for Charlton Athletic. In August 2004 he moved back to his home team of Lazio.
| Preceded by: Paul Gascoigne | Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by: Jackie McNamara |