While he was still playing, telecommunications company One2One ran a nationwide advertising campaign about the idea of using your mobile phone to connect to someone you've always wanted to meet. A deceased family member, a historical figure, a friend you've lost touch with, the adverts were as heart warming as they were thought provoking. Not for Di Canio though. In his autobiography, Di Canio describes a conversation he had with Ian Wright about this, where the former Arsenal player had thought long and hard about his answer before picking Martin Luther King. Paolo, on the other hand, would have chosen Benito Mussolini - the Italian dictator of the Second World War who introduced fascism to the country and was responsible for almost half a million deaths. Hardly surprising really, as Di Canio has a huge tattoo of an eagle (an adopted symbol of fascism) on his back above a portrait of Mussolini in a military helmet. After all, if musicians get Hendrix and Lennon tattoos and dream of somehow meeting their icons, why can't Di Canio admire a man who is, in his words, just "basically a very principled, ethical individual" who was "deeply misunderstood"? Well, probably because he was a murderous despot, Paolo. He might want to get that covered up with a dolphin or something before his next job interview.
WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine
