Football’s Greatest Goals No.18
This week’s ‘Greatest Goal’ comes from the enigmatic Paolo di Canio. The wild-tempered Italian had moved to West Ham United in January 1999 after Sheffield Wednesday were unable to cope with his behaviour. Four months before he joined West Ham, Di Canio had shoved referee Paul Alcock to the ground after being sent off and was banned for 11 games.
Harry Redknapp took a chance on him and paid £1.5 million for his services. It proved to be a risk worth taking as Di Canio quickly became a cult figure at Upton Park.
Di Canio was part of the West Ham team that lined up against Wimbledon on 26th March 2000 and he opened the scoring nine minutes into the game.
Trevor Sinclair was wide out on the right wing and about 35 yards from goal. He took a couple of touches before hitting the ball diagonally towards Di Canio who was at the far side of the penalty area.
Wimbledon’s right back Kenny Cunningham was marking Di Canio but started to run infield. He lost flight of the ball and it dropped over his head to Di Canio who was waiting with a few extra yards of space.
As the ball dropped in front of Di Canio, he attempted a scissor-kick and caught the ball perfectly on the volley. His shot flew across Neil Sullivan and into the far corner of the net.
Match of the Day viewers awarded the goal as the ‘Goal of the Season’ for the 1999/00 season. I think that it is one of the finest ever scored in the 28 years of the entire Premier League.
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