‘I was hailed for sporting Prem gesture – but team-mates wanted to fight me’

Paulo Di Canio's act of sportsmanship may have got the recognition of FIFA – but his team-mates took some convincing.

The West Ham icon, now 55, hit the headlines for the right reasons when he stopped play after Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard twisted his knee and went down injured by the corner flag during a Premier League contest in 2000. His act of catching the ball and allowing the referee to halt the game led to global applause.

The Italian was even handed a FIFA Fair Play Award for his response, described as "a special act of good sportsmanship" – but many of his West Ham colleagues wanted the three points more.

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Speaking on West Ham podcast, Iron Cast, Di Canio remembered after the 1-1 draw: "I walked down the tunnel at the end of the match and all the Everton players they became my friends… my team-mates in an instant were my enemy. They wanted to fight me!"

He added: "English football is about fair play."

Di Canio noted his team-mates were concerned about West Ham's place in the Premier League, to which he insisted they would win the next game instead.

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They went on to lose to Leicester before smashing Charlton 5-0, staying in the division with a 15th place finish and final points tally of 42 from 38 games.

Di Canio played a total of 141 games for West Ham before his exit on their relegation in 2003, scoring 51 goals.

He recently made an appearance at the London Stadium ahead of their defeat at Manchester City, delighting supporters.

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Di Canio would again clash with a team-mate during his time at Lazio, saying Simone Inzaghi "had a brain the size of a peanut".

The pair played together between 2004 and 2006 when the Hammers hero returned to his boyhood club, but clashed on his second debut over the taking of a penalty.

Di Canio told FourFourTwo in 2006: "With Inzaghi, it was my first game after 16 years away from Lazio, my Lazio, with the score 0-0 and a penalty awarded – you need a brain the size of a peanut to think that I wouldn’t take it."

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