It's 20 years since Paolo Di Canio scored THAT goal for West Ham, take a look back and hear from the man himself on that amazing strike.
He’s one of the icons of the Premier League, a true enigma of the game who was both hero and villain during his time in England, but Paolo Di Canio is probably best remembered for scoring one of the best goals in history.
March 26, 2000 was the date that Di Canio showed his true genius on the field with a goal of jaw-dropping quality and a technical ability only matched by the brazen confidence he showed just to attempt it.
A long ball into the box from Trevor Sinclair saw Di Canio ghost in at the far post, but, with an imagination reserved for the true footballing maestro, instead of bringing the ball down he opted for a bicycle kick volley.
📅 20 years ago today...
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) March 26, 2020
😲 Paolo Di Canio scored THAT goal for @WestHam - has there been a better goal in Premier League history?#DiCanio #OnThisDayInFootball pic.twitter.com/rBDUVA6yUk
The ball pinged off his right foot perfectly and flew into the far corner beyond Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan – as stunned a spectator as the rest of Upton Park who could hardly believe what had happened.
Di Canio himself summed it up with in his own style.
“The Wimbledon goal was very good!” he told the West Ham website. “In an instant, I saw this ball arrive and I did a bicycle volley instinctively and the percentage of the difficulty is 99 percent. But, if you see the change in the air, it is a harmony that only the dancer can have.
“I can understand in England why they show this because it was pretty much a perfect strike.”
From the villainy of pushing referee Paul Alcock that eventually led to the end of his time at Sheffield Wednesday, to his moment of ultra sportsmanship for West Ham when opting to catch the ball instead of scoring against Everton when keeper Paul Gerrard went down injured – Di Canio covered the entire spectrum of emotions in football.
Fittingly though, his lasting legacy may just be this strike against Wimbledon – which remains in the conversation for the best goal we’ve witnessed in Premier League history.
#OnThisDay in 2000, Paolo Di Canio scored that UNFORGETTABLE goal in @WestHamUtd's 2-1 win against Wimbledon 👏🤩 #PL pic.twitter.com/IPIkrEtph7
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 26, 2019
