Fabio Cannavaro is an Italian professional football coach and former player.
85 Facts About Fabio Cannavaro
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Fabio Cannavaro is regarded as one of the best defenders of all time.
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Fabio Cannavaro was most recently the head coach of Serie B club Benevento.
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Fabio Cannavaro started his career at Napoli before spending seven years at Parma, with whom he won two Coppa Italia titles, the 1999 Supercoppa Italiana, and the 1999 UEFA Cup.
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Fabio Cannavaro was part of the Italy team which won consecutive UEFA European Under-21 Championships in 1994 and 1996.
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Fabio Cannavaro led Italy to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and was given the nickname "Il Muro di Berlino" by the Italian supporters due to his defensive performances, which saw Italy keep five clean sheets and concede only two goals, neither of which were in open play.
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Fabio Cannavaro was awarded the Silver Ball after being named the tournament's second-best player.
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In 2009, Fabio Cannavaro overtook Maldini as the most capped player in the country's history.
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Fabio Cannavaro retired from international football on 25 June 2010 following Italy's failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup, having amassed 136 caps and 2 goals for the senior national team.
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Fabio Cannavaro is currently Italy's second all-time appearance holder, behind Gianluigi Buffon, as well as Italy's most capped defender.
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Fabio Cannavaro was named the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year, making him the only defender in history to have won the award.
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Fabio Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or award in 2006 which made him the only defender to win the award in a decade and only the third of all time after Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer.
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In 2006 and 2007 Fabio Cannavaro was named in the FIFA World XI.
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Fabio Cannavaro's younger brother Paolo was a professional footballer, and currently serves as a member of Guangzhou Evergrande's coaching staff under the direction of his older brother Fabio.
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Fabio Cannavaro returned to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2017 and was briefly appointed as manager of the China national team in 2019.
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Fabio Cannavaro was born in Naples to Gelsomina Costanzo and Pasquale Cannavaro.
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Fabio Cannavaro's mother worked as a maid, while his father was a bank clerk.
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Fabio Cannavaro has an elder sister named Renata and a younger brother named Paolo, who was a professional footballer.
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Fabio Cannavaro initially served as the club's ball boy and would often watch his idols Diego Maradona and Ciro Ferrara play.
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Fabio Cannavaro later joined the club's youth team, initially playing as a midfielder like his idol Marco Tardelli, before the team's youth coach switched him to the role of centre-back.
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Fabio Cannavaro gained a reputation when, in a training session at Napoli, the young Fabio produced a strong sliding challenge on Maradona, who was then the undisputed star of the club, to dispossess him.
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However, Maradona himself defended the promising player and encouraged him to play the way he wanted, and reportedly congratulated Fabio Cannavaro by giving him his boots as a souvenir after the training session.
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Fabio Cannavaro scored his first career goal at the San Siro, against Milan, on 8 January 1995.
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Fabio Cannavaro remained at Napoli until 1995, earning nearly 60 total appearances with the club, scoring one goal.
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Fabio Cannavaro was sold to Parma in the summer of 1995 and in his first season, he was instantly a regular in the first team, scoring once in 29 appearances in the league.
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Fabio Cannavaro would go on not only to win trophies with the club, but achieve several personal accomplishments, being named the team's captain.
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Fabio Cannavaro began to obtain success during his time at Parma.
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Fabio Cannavaro won his first Supercoppa Italiana title against Serie A champions Milan and Parma finished the Serie A season in fourth place, tied with Internazionale for the final remaining Champions League spot.
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However, during Fabio Cannavaro's spell with the club, Inter mostly flattered to deceive.
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Fabio Cannavaro won four Oscar del Calcio awards for his exceptional seasons with the Turin giants, winning the 2005 Serie A Defender of the Year, the 2006 Defender of the Year, the 2006 Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year and the 2006 Serie A Footballer of the Year.
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Fabio Cannavaro's transfer was met with disappointment from the Juventus fans, who had accepted him as one of their own.
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Fabio Cannavaro was elected as part of the 2006 and the 2007 FIFPro World XI squads, and the 2006 UEFA Team of the Year.
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Fabio Cannavaro was named in the six-man shortlist for the 2007 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
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Three years after Fabio Cannavaro left Juventus, and following the end of his contract with Real Madrid, in the summer of 2009 he decided to return to the club.
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Early in the first half, Fabio Cannavaro accumulated two bookings for reckless challenges and was sent off.
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Fabio Cannavaro enraged supporters with the sending-off and its consequent role in the team's elimination.
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Fabio Cannavaro's performances had become unreliable, so much so that his hometown club Napoli made no attempt to sign him, despite Cannavaro expressing his wish to rejoin the club on more than one occasion.
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On 2 June 2010, it was announced Fabio Cannavaro would move to UAE League side Al-Ahli on a free transfer after the 2010 World Cup.
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Fabio Cannavaro made 16 appearances for the Dubai club, scoring two goals.
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Fabio Cannavaro announced his retirement from football in July 2011 due to a serious knee problem; doctors had told him he could no longer play.
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However, the league never came to fruition and Fabio Cannavaro stayed in retirement.
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Fabio Cannavaro subsequently played for his country in the 1998,2002,2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, as well as in the 2000 and 2004 UEFA European Championships.
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Fabio Cannavaro made his debut with the Italy national team on 22 January 1997, in a friendly match against Northern Ireland.
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Nevertheless, in a display ranking alongside those of the very best Italian defenders Claudio Gentile and Franco Baresi, Fabio Cannavaro managed to keep Shearer quiet for the whole game.
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Fabio Cannavaro made several strong performances throughout the tournament, although Italy eventually went out in the quarter-finals to hosts and eventual champions France, in a match where Fabio Cannavaro suffered a cut to his forehead following an elbow by Stephane Guivarc'h.
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Fabio Cannavaro was elected as part of the Team of the Tournament for his performances.
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At the 2002 World Cup, under manager Giovanni Trapattoni, Fabio Cannavaro was credited with holding the defence together almost single-handedly after his usual defensive partner Alessandro Nesta was injured against Croatia.
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Fabio Cannavaro picked up two yellow card during the group stage and was suspended for the round of 16 match, meaning Italy would be left without their two starting centre-backs.
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Fabio Cannavaro had a difficult act to follow when he took over as captain from Paolo Maldini after the 2002 World Cup, but he quickly won the team over with his leadership, calming influence and inspirational performances, helping Italy qualify for Euro 2004.
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Fabio Cannavaro picked up yellow cards during his nations two opening group draws with Denmark and Sweden, forcing him to sit out the final group match.
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Fabio Cannavaro captained Italy throughout their successful 2006 World Cup campaign with composure and aplomb under manager Marcello Lippi.
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Fabio Cannavaro subsequently ran forward to dispossess Lukas Podolski, and carried the ball up to Francesco Totti in midfield, who started the play that led to Italy's second goal, which was scored by Alessandro Del Piero from an assist by Alberto Gilardino.
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However, Fabio Cannavaro's crowning moment was lifting the World Cup trophy on 9 July 2006, the night of his 100th cap.
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Fabio Cannavaro did not receive a single yellow or red card during the 690 minutes he played in the tournament.
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Fabio Cannavaro was runner-up in the race for the Golden Ball, finishing behind French counterpart Zinedine Zidane; it was a close contest with Zidane polling 2012 points to Cannavaro's 1977.
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Fabio Cannavaro was awarded the 2006 Ballon d'Or and the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year for his performances throughout the season and at the World Cup, being named to the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year.
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On 2 June 2008, Fabio Cannavaro was injured during Italy's first training session for Euro 2008.
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Fabio Cannavaro sustained a knock following a tackle by fellow defender Giorgio Chiellini and was carried off the field on a stretcher.
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Right after the examinations, Italian journalists waited for Fabio Cannavaro, who told them simply, "I'm going home", with a melancholic smile on his face.
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Fabio Cannavaro added that he would stay with the squad to offer support.
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Fabio Cannavaro put his plans to retire from the national team after Euro 2008 on hold and added that the injury had made him more determined than ever to captain Italy through the 2010 World Cup.
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On 12 August 2009, in a friendly match against Switzerland, Fabio Cannavaro became Italy's most capped player of all time.
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Fabio Cannavaro won his 127th cap for his country, beating Maldini's former record of 126.
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Fabio Cannavaro captained Italy at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, under Marcello Lippi, although his performances were not as strong as in previous editions, and he and the Italian squad received criticism from the press.
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In total, Fabio Cannavaro made 136 appearances for Italy between 1997 and 2010, scoring 2 goals, making him the second-most capped Italian player of all time, behind only Gianluigi Buffon.
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Fabio Cannavaro has made the second-most appearances for Italy as captain, behind only Buffon, wearing the armband on 79 occasions.
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In July 2013, after Cosmin Olaroiu took charge as new head coach of Al-Ahli, Fabio Cannavaro was named as his first team coach.
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Fabio Cannavaro guided Al-Ahli to UAE Pro League and UAE League Cup titles in his first season in charge.
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On 5 November 2014, Fabio Cannavaro was named as new head coach of Chinese Super League title-holder and four-time champions Guangzhou Evergrande, replacing his former national team manager Marcello Lippi.
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Fabio Cannavaro was formally unveiled by the club on the same day.
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On 4 June 2015, Guangzhou Evergrande suddenly announced Fabio Cannavaro was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari after a Super League match against Tianjin Teda.
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On 24 October 2015, Fabio Cannavaro was named new head coach of Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr replacing Jorge da Silva.
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On 9 June 2016, Tianjin Quanjian, who were on a streak of seven consecutive competitive matches without a win under Vanderlei Luxemburgo, announced Fabio Cannavaro became the new manager of the club.
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Under Fabio Cannavaro, Quanjian finished third in their top-tier debut with 15 wins, 9 draws and 6 losses and advanced to 2018 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-offs.
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Fabio Cannavaro won the Chinese Football Association Coach of the Year award in November 2017.
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Fabio Cannavaro was relieved of his position on 27 October 2019, and went to corporate culture training, with captain Zheng Zhi the acting manager.
77.
On 15 March 2019, Fabio Cannavaro was appointed manager of the China national team, in conjunction with coaching Guangzhou Evergrande.
78.
On 21 September 2022, Fabio Cannavaro took on his first managerial job in his native Italy, becoming the new head coach of Serie B club Benevento.
79.
Fabio Cannavaro has been the only permanent member of Italy's ever-changing back line.
80.
Fabio Cannavaro is considered one of the greatest defenders of all time, winning the World Cup as Italy's captain, as well as the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2006.
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Fabio Cannavaro was sponsored by sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials.
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Fabio Cannavaro was on the cover of the Italian edition of SCEE's This is Football 2003.
83.
Fabio Cannavaro worked as a pundit on ITV during the 2014 World Cup.
84.
Fabio Cannavaro's younger brother, Paolo, was a defender who last played for Sassuolo, and previously played for Napoli, Verona and Parma.
85.
The night before the 1999 UEFA Cup Final, a video tape was released which showed Fabio Cannavaro being injected with a substance.