Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro is a former professional footballer from Italy. He is a Ballon d’Or winner and he also won the Silver Ball at the 2006 FIFA World Cup where he helped Italy win, he was the team captain at the time. That year, he was also named the World Soccer Player of the Year.

After his playing career, he started coaching teams, most recently Benevento.

Player Profile and Youth Career

Canavaro was born on September 13, 1973, in Naples Italy. He played center-back and he stands 176 cm tall.

He started his youth career in 1988, playing for the Italian team – Napoli. Cannavaro spent his youth career with them through to 1992.

Professional Career

Cannavaro started his professional playing career with Napoli as well and played there from 1992 till 1995 when he was sold to Parma.

It was at Parma that Cannavaro attracted the eyes of the bigger clubs and of the world and stayed there until 2002 after winning the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia in 1998 with some help from his then teammates Lilian Thuram and Gianluigi Buffon.

Cannavaro then moved onto traditional Italian giants Inter Milan FC at the end of the 2001-2002 season and reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in his very first season. But he was on the move again and this time he went to Italy’s most supported and successful club Juventus.

In the year he left Juventus, he led Italy National Football Team to a FIFA World Cup win. Cannavaro also won the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or in 2006 for his exceptional display in the German World Cup and has featured 115 times so far for his nation Italy.

After Juventus, he played with Real Madrid from 2006 to 2009. Then from 2009 to 2010, he returned to Juventus. His final professional team was Al-Ahli.

Following his playing career, he started coaching. Teams he coached include Guangzhou, Al-Nassr, Tianjin Quanjian, Guangzhou, China National Footballm, and Benevento. He was fired by Benevento in 2023.

Individual Honors

• 1996 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Golden Player
• 2000 - UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament
• 2002 - FICTS Hall of Fame and Excellence Guirlande d'Honneur
• 2006 - FIFA World Player of the Year
• 2006 - Ballon d'Or
• 2006 - FIFA World Cup: Silver Ball
• 2006 - FIFA World Cup: Team of the Tournament
• 2006 - World Soccer Player of the Year
• 2006 - Serie A Footballer of the Year
• 2006 - Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year
• 2005, 2006 - Serie A Defender of the Year
• 2006 - UEFA Team of the Year
• 2004–05 - ESM Team of the Year
• 2006, 2007 - FIFPro World XI
• 2009 - Sports Illustrated Team of the Decade
• 2009 - ESPN World Team of the Decade
• 2011 - Gran Galà del Calcio AIC Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2014 - Italian Football Hall of Fame
• 2017 - Juventus Greatest XI of All Time
• 2017 - Chinese Football Association Coach of the Year

Team History:

International Career

• 1993–1996 - Italy U21
• 1997–2010 - Italy

Managerial Career

• 2013–2014 - Al-Ahli (assistant)
• 2014–2015 - Guangzhou
• 2015–2016 - Al-Nassr
• 2016–2017 - Tianjin Quanjian
• 2017–2021 - Guangzhou
• 2019 - China
• 2022–2023 - Benevento