Paolo Di Canio may well be given the title clown prince of soccer.
Blessed with considerable skills which took him to Lazio, Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan before embarking upon a stay in the UK where he played for Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton, the Rome-born forward was certainly the most entertaining and controversial player to venture outside of Italy.
On the skills side, Di Canio is credited by Dutch great Marco van Basten with scoring one of the most memorable strikes ever seen, an acrobatic scissor kick for West Ham again Wimbledon March 2000. On the lighter side a few months later Di Canio won the FIFA Fair Play Award for a ‘special act of sportsmanship’ rarely witnessed in any sport.
While playing for West Ham against Everton and with the opposing goalkeeper on the ground injured 20 yards away, Di Canio took a cross from the right wing and was poised to head the ball into the empty net. But he stunned the crowd when instead he elected to catch the ball like a goalkeeper. He then pointed to the injured player. West Ham manager Harry Redknapp said at the end of the game “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry”.
Di Canio was adored by the fans at West Ham, playing more games for the east London club than any other team in Italy or the UK, but was banned while at Sheffield for pushing a referee to the ground. The fiery Italian walked away from his first job as manager with League One side Swindon, and was fired by Premier League club Sunderland in 2013 after just 13 games, a decision that disappointed his large fan base in north-east England.
Even in his native Italy, Di Canio was not without controversy, particularly when in 2005 he was suspended for giving a straight arm fascist salute to Lazio fans during his side’s 3-1 win over rivals Roma. The incident has dogged him, but he has insisted ever since that he is not and never was, a fascist.
Paolo Di Canio will be in Toronto Sunday July 20 with a group of Italian soccer legends and will attend a banquet that night staged by the CSL’s York Region Shooters owner Tony De Thomasis. The following night, Monday. July 21, the Italian legends meet a Portuguese legends team at the BMO Field, an 8 pm kickoff.
The banquet on Sunday is being held at the Embassy Grand, 8800 Gore Road in Brampton and tickets may be obtained by following the details on the display ad on the CSL website.
The Italian legends listed as coming to Toronto are: Roberto Baggio, Cudicini, Galli, Paolo Maldini. Baresi, Alessandro Nesta, Costacurta, Zambrotta, Grossi, Annoni, Paolo Di Cannio, Camoranesi, Perotta, Eranio, Baroni, Marcolin, Toto Schillaci, Delvecchio, Giordano, and Materazzi, while the Portuguese side is listed as Neno, Paulo Santos, Pauleta, Miguel, Beto, Paulo Madeira, Bruno Basto, Abel Xavier, Rui Bento, Fernando Meira, Pedro Mendes, Luis Boa Morte, Fernando Gomes, Sa Pinto, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha, Maniche and Dimas.
It looks like a once in a while opportunity for fans in southern Ontario to see some greats of the recent past and De Thomasis, who promotes the world game at every opportunity, is donating the proceeds to the Sick Kids hospital in Toronto.