One player shaved off all his hair while in England, and another had busts of Benito Mussolini at home when he was young
This article is part of the Guardian's Euro 2012 Experts' Network, a co-operation between 16 of the best media organisations from the countries who have qualified for the finals in Poland and Ukraine. guardian.co.uk is running previews from two countries each day in the runup to the tournament kicking off on 8 June.
Alessandro Diamanti
The attacking midfielder had a wild haircut when he joined West Ham in 2009 but shaved it all off after a few months. He later revealed why: "I did the same two or three years before that. It's easier when you have a shower. The English players don't use hairdryers in the dressing room. I was the only one using it and all my team-mates were making fun of me."
Gianluigi Buffon
The goalkeeper's success risked becoming an illness at one stage of his career. The Juve keeper has confessed that he suffered from bad depression eight years ago and only managed to improve the situation by seeing a psychologist. "I was submerged with doubts," he said. "And I understood that the fans did not care at all about my illness, they just saw me as an idol and no one ever asked me: how are you?"
Alberto Aquilani
It appears that there are more and more players in the Italian national team with political sympathies leaning towards the right. One player who has never hidden his political views is Alberto Aquilani who, when he was a kid playing for Roma, had several busts of Benito Mussolini in his house, which his uncle had given to him.
Aquilani has also frequently criticised immigrants in Italy, saying that they only create problems. In an interview in 2008, the midfielder said: "There are too many foreigners in the country – most of the violence and trouble you see is caused by them. My uncle is very keen on Mussolini and he gave me some things to do with him. I have a statue and a few photographs and portraits of Mussolini at home. But as for me, I don't know anything about politics."
Andrea Pirlo
Some years ago a rumour started that Andrea Pirlo descended from the Sinti, a Gypsy population, who lived in the north of Italy in the last century. Pirlo has always denied this but before Euro 2008 some organisations asked him not to play with the Azzurri in order to protest against the status of Roma and Sinti people in Italy.
Marco Ansaldo writes for La Stampa
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