Everything you need to know about AS Roma's talisman Paulo Dybala.
Paulo Dybala is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for Serie A club AS Roma and the Argentina national team. Dybala was born on November 15, 1993, in Laguna Larga, a small town in Argentina. He began his football career with Instituto de Cordoba, a club in his hometown, making his professional debut for the club in 2012 and quickly made an impact, scoring four goals in his first five matches.
His impressive performances earned him a move to Serie B side Palermo in the same year and he never looked back. In 2015, Dybala signed for Italian club Juventus, where he established himself as one of the best players in the world. He has won multiple Serie A titles with the club and has been named in the Serie A Team of the Year multiple times with the Turin club. He left Juventus to join AS Roma during the summer of 2022 and received a massive welcome from the club's fans.
Dybala is known for his technical ability, creativity, and goalscoring prowess. He is a versatile player who can play in multiple positions, including as a central attacking midfielder, a second striker, or a winger.
He is adept at creating space and opportunities for himself and his teammates while being a clinical finisher, capable of scoring goals from a variety of angles and distances. He has a powerful and accurate shot and is particularly adept at scoring from free-kicks.
Dybala is one of the most talented attacking players in the world, with exceptional dribbling ability, quick feet, and an eye for goal. He has won numerous individual awards throughout his career and established himself as a key member of the Juventus team in his time there.
Here are 13 interesting facts about Dybala that you absolutely need to know.
Getty ImagesPolish and Italian blood in his veins
Dybala was born in a small town in Argentina called Laguna Largai in the Cordoba region. Despite being born in Argentina, he has Italian and Polish blood running through his veins.
His grandfather was born in Poland, whereas on his maternal grandmother’s side, he has Italian genes as she was from Naples.
AdvertisementFather, Football and Footballing career
Dybala is a beloved figure among the fans, but the mercurial talent was close to quitting football.
His father, Adolfo Dybala, died of intestinal cancer when Dybala was just 14 which left him heartbroken and distraught, and he almost quit football because his father was the sole inspiration behind him pursuing the sport.
An Italian, a Brazilian and an Argentine as footballing idols
Dybala revealed in his documentary, ‘La Joya,’ that Italian legend Andre Pirlo was his favorite footballer growing up, and a role model for him.
However, he is not the only footballer Dybala looked up to while growing up.
He idolized legendary Argentine midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme, as well as Barcelona and Brazil legend, Ronaldinho for their exceptional talent on the field.
Getty ImagesNicknames and the story behind them
When Dybala moved to Italy with Palermo, one of the club's drivers, Franco Marchione, went on to pick him at the airport and ended up being the person to give him the nickname ' U picciriddu' (broadly, in Sicilian dialect, 'the little boy').
"When Dybala arrived in Palermo I went to pick him up from the airport," Marchione later explained. "There were two agents there and I asked them, "Where is the player?"
"Here he is," they told me. And I exclaimed, 'Hell, he's a It all started from there."
The other nickname that would quickly be attached to Dybala was 'La Joya' ('The Jewel') – the nickname that is perhaps the most widely recognized.
"It was an Argentinian journalist who came up with it, because when I was very young they said that a lot of Italian clubs wanted to sign me and so my value was very high – a bit like a diamond."
