WORLD SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Fabio CANNAVARO
2006
Azzurri triumph…Cannavaro was central to Italy’s victory
The case for the defence
I
taly’s World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro is one of a rare breed, and wasted no time in attributing his success in lifting a number of individual player awards to the support of his team-mates, both at former club Juventus and Italy. “It is thanks to them that I have been able to show my qualities on the pitch,” said the 33-year-old World Cup-winning captain, now at Real Madrid, and whose prizes have included World Soccer’s Player of the Year award and France Football’s Ballon d’Or, the European Footballer of the Year prize. “So I must thank my Juve team-mates and all my colleagues from the national team.” Cannavaro was born and brought up in Naples and was a ball boy at Napoli’s Stadio San Paolo at the height of the Maradona mania in the late 1980s. He was even a ball boy when Maradona’s Argentina beat Italy on penalties in the World Cup semi-final of 1990. Months later, Cannavaro and Maradona found themselves at even closer quarters when the Italian was assigned to mark Argentina’s captain in a practice game. Cannavaro apparently went in so hard that one coach told him to ease up, only for Maradona to call out: “You’re doing fine, carry on as you are.” Claudio Ranieri handed him his firstteam debut in March 1993, a 4-3 defeat by Juventus. Two years later he joined Parma, but was sad to leave. Cannavaro
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PLAYER OF THE YEAR
says: “I know Naples has a particular reputation but it is a very special city, my city. Some of it is not safe but you can say that about most big cities. I was very lucky to become a professional footballer. Some of the kids I grew up with are no longer with us because of drugs or crime. “Fortunately my family was very solid, and then, when I was growing up, the city was mad about Maradona. I used to play football in the streets as
kids do now and I am proud about Naples and for them through my achievements – though I do not kid myself I will ever come close to Maradona in the city’s affections, no matter how many awards I get.” Cannavaro stayed with Parma for seven seasons, where he formed a tight defensive unit with future Juve colleagues Gigi Buffon and Lilian Thuram, played European football every season and won the UEFA Cup in 1999.
World Cup winner… Cannavaro
