Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro is a former Italian professional defender born on 13 September 1973 in Naples, Italy.

It’s a tidbit that as a youth Fabio served as Napoli’s ball boy and often watched Diego Maradona play. In one of the training sessions at Napoli, Fabio made a strong tackle on Maradona and impressed idol encouraged a promising youngster to play.

Cannavaro joined Napoli first team in 1992. In three years he moved to Parma where he claimed his first silverwares. In 1999, Cannavaro recorded the Italian Cup and Super Cup, as well as helped his team to win the UEFA Cup. All in all, he shone in 212 league matches for the club. In 2002, he transferred to Internazionale though Cannavaro describes his two-year spell with Nerazzuri as an unfavorable one. In 2004, the defender signed a contract with heavyweights Juventus. He had a glorious 2005/06 campaign as he was named the Serie A Defender and Footballer of the Year as well as the Italian Footballer of the Year. In 2006, Cannavaro left for Spain where he joined giant Real Madrid. He collected two La Liga titles and the 2008 Supercopa de España together with Los Merengues. However, during his time at the club Cannavaro began to lose his prominence. He returned to Juventus for the 2009/10 season and ended up his professional career with an Arab club Al Ahli in 2011.

Fabio Cannavaro is also renowned worldwide for his exceptional performances for the Italy national team. He was an instrumental part of the squad who finished as runners-up in the UEFA Euro 2000 and won the World Cup in 2006.