Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro (born September 13, 1973) is an Italian football player and as of 2006, captain of the Italian national team.

Cannavaro was born in Naples, and although not being tall for a central defender (176 cm), he is considered one of the best defenders of the 1990s and early 2000s. During his career in the Italian championship, he has played for Napoli (1992-95), Parma (1995-2002), Inter Milan (2002-04) and Juventus (2004-current). In 1998-99 he won the UEFA Cup and Italian Cup with Parma. In Juventus, he has re-joined his ex-Parma partners Lilian Thuram and Gianluigi Buffon. They formed one of the best defensive lines in Serie A and Cannavaro won his first scudetto with Juventus in 2005.

In the national team, Cannavaro forms alongside Alessandro Nesta one of the best pairs of central defenders in the world. Cannavaro is especially noted for his reading of the game, an ability that often sees him make countless interceptions during games. He is also tipped as the best pure defender in the world. It is this attribute that has compensated for his lack of height, making him one of the finest centre-backs to have come out of Italy.

Fabio made his international debut in January 1997 against Northern Ireland and has earned 100 caps for Italy. He has played for his country in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 World Cups, as well as Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. His crowning moment was lifting the World Cup in 2006, the night of his 100th cap. He also won the silver ball for his outstanding play in the tournament.

His younger brother, Paolo Cannavaro, is also a defender, and plays for Napoli. The two brothers played alongside each other at Parma from 2000 until 2002, when Fabio left for Inter.

Cannavaro captained Italy throughout their victorious 2006 World Cup run, the country's first in 24 years.

He is also a sex symbol in his native Italy and was recently voted "sexiest player" of the 2006 World Cup. He was the runner up in the race for the Golden Ball, which is awarded to the world cup's best player, Zinedine Zidane. Cannavaro was chosen as a world cup all-star at the end of the tournament. He joins six other Italian teammates (Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Toni, Francesco Totti and Gianluca Zambrotta).

He is married to Daniela and they have two sons, Christian and Andrea (b. October 20, 2004), and a daughter, Martina.

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Fabio Cannavaro

External links