Paulo Exequiel Dybala (born 15 November 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Roma and the Argentina national team.
Nicknamed "La Joya" ("The Jewel"), Dybala began his senior club career in 2011 playing for Instituto de Córdoba, before signing for Palermo in 2012, at age 18, where he won a Serie B title. In 2015, Dybala signed for Juventus and won five league titles and four Coppas Italia. He was also voted Serie A Most Valuable Player once, was also included in the Serie A Team of the Year four times, and ranks as Juventus' ninth-highest all-time goalscorer.
Dybala made his senior international debut for Argentina in 2015 at age 21, and has since earned over 30 caps, including appearing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 Copa America and 2022 World Cup, winning the latter tournament.
A quick, creative, elegant, and agile player, with excellent technical ability and a low centre of gravity, Dybala is known for his powerful and accurate shots from outside the box, dribbling skills, balance, and close control in limited spaces, as well as his ability to beat opponents in one on one situations and protect or hold up the ball for teammates with his back to goal. Due to his speed on the ball, positioning, intelligent movement, and ball skills, he excels during counter-attacks and at beating the offside trap when making attacking runs. A hardworking player, he is also known for his stamina and defensive contribution off the ball. Dybala is capable both of creating chances for teammates, as well as scoring goals himself, due to his vision, passing, link-up play, and ability to drop deep and play off other players, as well as his powerful and accurate ball-striking ability from both inside and outside the area. Despite his diminutive stature, Dybala is also effective at scoring with his head, due to his acceleration over short distances, and his ability to anticipate defenders inside the box.
After scoring a goal, Dybala is known for using his signature "mask" celebration; regarding the gesture, he commented: "My mask gesture isn't so much a goal celebration but rather a message. It's an ideal mask, which gladiators wore to fight. In Doha against Milan, after we lost Supercoppa, the idea of this celebration was born." |
