13 fun facts about Paulo Dybala

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.

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.

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.

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 picciriddu! 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."

Besides being extremely skilled, the Argentine has trademarked an iconic celebration.

When Dybala scores a goal, he puts his hands over his face below the nose, covering his mouth and chin. This is known as the ‘Dybalamask’. But why? Well, very simply, he says he is mimicking the mask of a Gladiator.

The 27-year-old is currently in a relationship with a 22-year-old woman named Oriana Sabatini, who in the music industry, is simply known as Oriana.

Oriana is a model, pop singer, and actress in Argentina. She herself has sporting blood in her veins, as Gabriella Sabatini, 1990 US Open winner, is her aunty. The couple met in 2017, at a music concert Dybala was attending, where she was supporting Ariana Grande.

Few people are able to share the dressing room with one of the greatest of all times, let alone two of the greatest players in the history of football. Dybala has shared the field and the dressing room with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Messi and Dybala have both shared the pitch for Argentina often even drawing comparisons, while Dybala and Ronaldo graced the stage together for Juventus during the Portuguese superstar's time in Italy.

Dybala loves the ink, and has multiple tattoos on his body, each with a story behind them.

The Argentine has got a tattoo of a football with a crown on his left calf, which shows his love, affection and dedication towards the game. He has got both his parents name inscribed in an Arabic script on his body.

His mother's name graces the left rib cage near to his heart and is the most important tattoo according to him, while his father's name is inked on his right calf.

The Argentine also has recognizable black strips on his left forearm.

In an interview with the same Argentinian magazine, he was asked about the meaning behind this tattoo. Dybala said, “I did it because I liked it. A teammate has the same tattoo, and I liked its aesthetics. it is similar to the bracelets used by the ancient Romans for war, but I did it for the aesthetic, rather than for whatever meaning it may have.”

Dybala is the fifth highest scoring Argentine player in Serie A history, with 105 goals to his name to date.

Paulo currently sits behind Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo, Gonzalo Higuain and Mauro Icardi on the list. He is just a goal behind Mauro Icardi.

Dybala spent seven seasons at the Old Lady and established himself as a legend and fan favorite scoring 115 goals for Juventus, putting him level with Roberto Baggio among the club's all-time leading goalscorers (currently joint ninth).

With 82 of those goals coming in Serie A, he sits ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and in the top 10 of that category as well.

The 29-year-old has been impressive during his time in Italy, and especially with Juventus.

The Argentine forward has been voted four times into the Serie A Team of the Year with the Bianconeri thanks to his impact on the pitch.

Despite having ancestral roots in Italy and Poland and having the option to choose between three countries to represent on the international stage Dybala's heart was committed to Argentina.

The forward chose to represent Argentina, as he feels Argentine and always dreamt of representing La Albiceleste.

Dybala loves dogs and has three dogs. A Shiba Inu named Kaia, another dog named Bowen and he adopted a small dog in May 2020 whose name is unknown for the moment.