title: Lung cancer

text: The PI3K pathway has been investigated as a target for lung cancer therapy. The most promising strategies for targeting this pathway seem to be selective inhibition of one or more members of the class I PI3Ks, and co-targeted inhibition of this pathway with others such as MEK.


title: Lung cancer

text: Lung cancer stem cells are often resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This may lead to relapse after treatment. New approaches target protein or glycoprotein markers that are specific to the stem cells. Such markers include CD133, CD90, ALDH1A1, CD44, and ABCG2. Signaling pathways such as Hedgehog, Wnt, and Notch are often implicated in the self-renewal of stem cell lines. Thus, treatments targeting these pathways may help to prevent relapse.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup where he lifted the World Cup trophy, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or. In 1991, he was named the first FIFA World Player of the Year, and remains the only German to have received the award. He was also included in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus held the record (along Mexican goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal) of having played in five FIFA World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998); more than any other outfield player in men's football, until the 2018 World Cup, in which Mexico's Rafael Márquez equalled his record, and holds the record of second most World Cup matches played by a single player (25 games) after = Lionel Messi (26 games) complete in final of 2022 fifa world cup against France. He also won UEFA Euro 1980, and played in the 1984, 1988 and 2000 UEFA European Championships. In 1999, aged 38, Matthäus was again voted German Footballer of the Year, having previously won the award in 1990.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus is the most capped German player of all time, retiring with a total of 150 appearances (83 for West Germany) in 20 years, and 23 goals. Matthäus is a member of the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living football players chosen by Pelé. Diego Maradona said of Matthäus, "he is the best rival I've ever had. I guess that's enough to define him", in his book "Yo soy el Diego" (I am the Diego).


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: A versatile and complete player, Matthäus is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, and was renowned for his perceptive passing, positional sense, well-timed tackling, as well as powerful shooting. During his career, he usually played as a box-to-box midfielder, although late in his career he played as a sweeper.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Lothar Herbert Matthäus was born on 21 March 1961 in Erlangen, Bavaria, West Germany. He spent his early playing days in the youth team of 1. FC Herzogenaurach, located in a small town in Bavaria close to Nuremberg.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus started his professional career in 1979 with Borussia Mönchengladbach of the Bundesliga, for whom he played until 1984. He then played for Bayern Munich from 1984–88, winning the Bundesliga twice and the DFB-Pokal. They also reached the European Cup final in 1987, leading 1–0 for most of the game until two late goals gave FC Porto the win.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus and Bayern teammate Andreas Brehme signed with Inter Milan of Serie A in 1988, winning the "Scudetto" in 1988–89 during their first season, and the Italian Supercup that year as well. Matthäus continued to enjoy further success with Inter, winning the UEFA Cup in 1991 and being named FIFA World Player of the Year. In the final, he scored a penalty in the first leg to help them to their victory over Roma.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Returning to Bayern Munich in 1992, he won four Bundesliga titles, two DFB-Pokals, another UEFA Cup and reached a second European Cup final in 1999. The only major club football honour which eluded Matthäus, for competitions in which he played, was the UEFA Champions League. Famously, he came within two minutes of picking up a winners' medal in 1999, only to have his hopes dashed by Manchester United, who scored two last-minute goals in the final, after he was substituted in the 80th minute of play while the team was still leading 1–0. When the two teams went to collect their medals Matthäus removed his runners-up medal immediately after he received it – it was the second time he had been on the losing side in a final under similar circumstances; in the 1987 final, Bayern had been leading 1–0 most of the game until two late goals gave FC Porto the win. After Matthäus retired, Bayern would win the Champions League in 2000–01 and later that year the Intercontinental Cup. His last official match for Bayern took place in Munich on 8 March 2000 and was a Champions League match against Real Madrid, which Bayern won 4–1.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: During the 1999–2000 season, Matthäus moved from Bayern to New York City's MetroStars team of Major League Soccer in the United States. He played in the US from March to October 2000 and retired from professional football afterwards. During his season with the MetroStars, he traveled to St. Tropez when he was supposed to be rehabbing his back.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus came out of retirement in 2018, at age 57, to play 50 minutes of 1. FC Herzogenaurach's final league game of the season. The team had already secured the league title, and the appearance allowed Matthäus to satisfy his ambition retiring with the club where his career started: "It was always my dream to play my last competitive game here."


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus was first called up to the West German national squad in 1980, where he was part of the winning squad in UEFA Euro 1980 in Italy, making his international debut at the tournament in a game against the Netherlands. He also played two games at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain; he was brought on as a substitute in group stage games against Chile and the infamous Disgrace of Gijón game versus Austria. West Germany reached the final, losing to Italy at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid 3–1.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: By now, he also had a regular place in the national team for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, scoring the winner in the round of 16 against Morocco. In the final at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, despite his considerable play-making ability, he was assigned by coach Franz Beckenbauer to mark Argentina's Diego Maradona. Maradona did not score in the final, but his pass to a teammate with six minutes left in regulation time set up the winning goal for Argentina, and West Germany lost their second consecutive World Cup final, this time 3–2.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: At UEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany, Matthäus captained the team and scored a penalty against the Netherlands (the eventual winners) in the semi-final to give his team a 1–0 lead, but Ronald Koeman leveled the score with a penalty, and then Marco van Basten slid in the winning goal in the final minutes.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: His immediate success in Italy's premier football league, the Serie A, was a precursor to the national team which finally managed to triumph at the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy. Six of West Germany's squad played professionally there; Matthäus and the West German squad played most of the World Cup games at Inter's home stadium the San Siro. West Germany was the best team of the tournament and one of the few to choose an attacking style of play, contrary to previous German teams' more defensive style. Matthäus led his squad from midfield and scored four goals, including two against Yugoslavia. He scored the only goal of the quarter-final against Czechoslovakia from a penalty awarded in the 25th minute of the match. West Germany reached its third consecutive final, a rematch against Maradona-led Argentina, and this time Matthäus and his team emerged victorious 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome thanks to Andreas Brehme converting an 85th minute penalty. Matthäus later said that playing the World Cup in Italy was "like playing a World Cup at home". As team captain, Matthäus hoisted the last World Cup trophy before German reunification in 1990.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: He was injured and unable to take part in UEFA Euro 1992 in Sweden; though a reunified Germany made the final but lost 2–0 to surprise Denmark. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup hosted by the United States, he captained the team but now operated as sweeper. He scored a penalty in Germany's quarter-final match against Bulgaria at Giants Stadium in New York City, which was also his record-tying 21st World Cup match, but the Bulgarians scored twice in three minutes to upset the defending champions. USA '94 was expected to be his last tournament, though he did not officially retire from international play. Matthäus was afterwards not called up for the national team, due to feuding with succeeding captain Jürgen Klinsmann and coach Berti Vogts. In his absence Germany won UEFA Euro 1996 which was held in England.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Surprisingly, he was called up for the 1998 World Cup in France as a replacement for the injured sweeper Matthias Sammer. He was on the bench for Germany's victory over the United States, but came in as a substitute against FR Yugoslavia and helped the team to a 2–2 draw. He became the second player to appear in five different World Cup tournaments, tying the record of Mexican goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal. In 2014 the record has also been tied by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who however has only played in four. In 2015 Homare Sawa and Formiga became the first footballers to appear for a record sixth time at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. Matthäus played in all the rest of Germany's matches until Croatia knocked them out in Lyon 3–0 in the quarterfinals, taking his total to a record 25.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: He earned his last three caps at UEFA Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands, his 150th cap being against Portugal, where Germany had a disastrous first round exit. Matthäus had a poor performance in the first group game against Romania, causing Oliver Bierhoff and other key German players to demand his benching, but head coach Erich Ribbeck stuck by Matthäus.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: One year after ending his illustrious playing career, Matthäus went into coaching, an activity where he has, so far, been much less distinguished. In his print interviews and other media appearances, he has been open about his goal and desire to coach in the German Bundesliga. His hope was that taking coaching jobs abroad would lead to offers from German clubs.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: When none came his way even after multiple foreign appointments, he often brought it up in the German press in-between his coaching stints. In a lengthy November 2009 "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" interview, Matthäus complained about what he considers to be inadequate treatment he receives in Germany as a former great. He also bemoaned the lack of coaching job offers extended to him in the German Bundesliga—claiming German clubs perceive him as too much of a Bayern supporter and too closely linked with the influential "Bild" tabloid newspaper to give him a job.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: His first head coaching experience was at SK Rapid Wien in the Austrian Bundesliga, lasting from 6 September 2001 until 14 May 2002 with mixed results. Matthäus got Rapid Wien to the second round of the UEFA Cup, Round of 16 in the Austrian Cup, and finished in eighth place in Bundesliga.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: In December 2002, looking to replace their recently sacked head coach Ljubiša Tumbaković, Serbian club FK Partizan hired Matthäus during mid-season winter break, signing the German to an 18-month contract.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Inheriting a team at the top of the league table, Matthäus achieved the immediate goal of steering Partizan to the 2002–03 league title; and did so in convincing fashion, extending the lead over the second-placed cross-town rivals Red Star Belgrade to 19 points at one point.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: The German's finest hour with the club, however, came in August 2003 when Partizan eliminated Newcastle United in the Champions League third qualifying round to reach the 2003–04 competition's group stage. Following the first leg 0–1 loss at home, the cause seemed lost, however, Partizan improbably triumphed 0–1 away at St. James' Park against the third-placed English Premier League club, taking the tie to penalties. The penalty series brought further dramatic changes of momentum before right back Milivoje Ćirković's successful spot-kick in the seventh penalty round finally put Partizan through. Matthäus notably had his back turned to the pitch as couldn't bear to watch the drama of Ćirković's penalty. Drawn in a tough group with Real Madrid, eventual champions FC Porto, and Olympique de Marseille, Partizan finished last thus missing out on the UEFA Cup spot.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: On 13 December 2003, right after finishing the final league match of the first half of the season before the winter break (0–1 win away at FK Železnik), Matthäus abruptly resigned his Partizan post by addressing the players and club leadership in private. A club spokesperson said Matthäus would clear everything up at a press conference scheduled for two days later, but it was already widely speculated through reports in the Hungarian press that the German had agreed terms with the Hungarian Football Federation to coach the Hungary national team. The rumours proved true as he officially signed the contract in Budapest and also got introduced to the media at Kempinski Hotel Corvinus.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Four months after leaving Belgrade, in mid-April 2004, the row over the terms of Matthäus' contract with Partizan was opened with both parties publicly going back and forth at each other. It began with Matthäus, by now Hungarian national team head coach, giving a detailed interview to Serbian press and accusing Partizan club leadership of breaching the additional terms of his contract. It became known on that occasion that his initial contract with Partizan that had been finalized on 1 January 2003 included a base guaranteed part as well additional premium clauses giving him between 5–10% from players' transfers and shirt sponsorships as well as Champions League bonus incentives. Matthäus claimed that after none of that was honoured he gave up on asking for his percentages of the Danko Lazović and Zvonimir Vukić transfers as well as Superfund shirt sponsorship deal due to "not wanting to upset the team atmosphere during Champions League qualifying", but instead pushed for the additional terms to be renegotiated. After successful Champions League qualification, the additional terms were in fact renegotiated with Partizan's general secretary Žarko Zečević so that both parties agreed to put the previous additional terms out of effect and instead now give Matthäus 15% of Igor Duljaj's (the club's best young asset at the time) future transfer abroad as well as to allow Matthäus to leave the club any time he wanted without penalties. Duljaj was sold to Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2004 for US$4 million, and Matthäus claimed Partizan failed to pay him the agreed percentage ($600,000 or €469,500). The club responded two days later in a lengthy press release saying that they don't owe him any money. One day after that, Matthäus decided to sue Partizan for the amount of US$600,000 before Sports Arbitration Court in Lausanne, Switzerland.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus became manager of the Hungary national football team on 14 December 2003. Taking over the national team of a country once synonymous with world class football that had over the decades in the meantime fallen to the point of being unable to qualify for a major competition since the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Matthäus was given the task of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup as part of the Hungarian Football Federation's (MLSZ) ambitious plan of returning on the path of former 1950s glory. After being drawn in a tough group with Sweden, Croatia and Bulgaria that goal looked increasingly difficult.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: The campaign started in the autumn of 2004 and fairly quickly it became obvious Hungary were in over their heads. Opening 3–0 loss away at Croatia in early September was somewhat offset four days later by a 3–2 hard fought home win versus Iceland. A month later, Matthäus' Hungary faced another important test away from home, this time at Sweden and once again it finished in disappointment with another demoralizing 3–0 loss. Before the winter break, Hungary managed to beat the minnows of the group Malta thus finishing the autumn part of the qualifying in fourth place with six points, mathematically still within striking distance of the leading trio. Notable was a 2–0 win in a friendly in Kaiserslautern against Germany on 6 June 2004.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: As the qualifiers resumed in late March 2005, Hungary hosted Bulgaria in what was pretty much a must win match for Matthäus' squad, however they only managed a draw right at the end with the goal coming in 90th minute for a 1–1 final scoreline. As Croatia and Sweden both won on the same occasion, the leading duo of teams now tangibly separated themselves from the pack of chasers, all of which meant that in order to qualify Hungary would have to win all its remaining fixtures and even get some outside help in terms of favourable results elsewhere. Such improbable scenario failed to materialize and they ended up in fourth place with 14 points from 10 matches, well behind Croatia and Sweden who earned 25 and 24 points, respectively. However, Matthäus was allowed to finish out the campaign behind the bench, and was even offered Hungarian citizenship, which he at the time said he would accept. There's no word whether he actually did. Matthäus left the Hungarian national team on 11 January 2006.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: After leaving the Hungary post, Matthäus was vocally critical of the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ), accusing it in November 2007 of "not contributing, but exploiting Hungarian football" before adding that "it is not coincidental that the Hungarian bid to host Euro 2012 didn't receive any votes".


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus signed a one-year contract to coach Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense from the city of Curitiba on 11 January 2006. However, after only seven matches in charge (five wins, two draws) from the start of the 2006 Paraná state championship he quit the club in March 2006 citing the need to be closer to his family. The way he left raised some questions about his professionalism. Apparently, only five weeks after signing a contract he informed club officials about a need to rush back to Europe in order to deal with an urgent personal problem, but assured them he'd be back in 3–4 days. After missing for two weeks, he faxed in his resignation on 20 March and never even went back to Brazil to pick up his personal belongings. Some ten days later, Atlético put out a release mentioning that Matthäus ran up R$13,000 (US$5,915) in phone charges that the club wanted him to pay. The club even posted the bill on their website.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: On 19 May 2006, only two months following the bizarre Brazilian episode, Matthäus was announced as coach of Red Bull Salzburg (formerly Austria Salzburg) for the upcoming 2006–07 season. Shortly, the club also signed Giovanni Trapattoni (incidentally Matthäus' former coach at both Inter Milan and Bayern) to be their director of football. In practice, this meant that Trapattoni and Matthäus essentially shared coaching duties.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Despite co-leading the team to the Austrian league title by a large margin, Matthäus would eventually be fired on 12 June 2007 by unanimous decision of the Red Bull Salzburg's board of directors.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: On 13 April 2008, it was announced that Matthäus signed with Israeli club Maccabi Netanya to coach the team from the beginning of the 2008–09 season.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: On 29 April 2009, with the Israeli league season still ongoing and Netanya sitting in fourth place, it was announced that Matthäus will not be back for the second season once the current one is finished. The reason cited was the financial trouble that the club was going through. Matthäus' club finished the league season in fourth spot.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: On 23 September 2010, it was announced that Matthäus would be the new coach of the Bulgarian national team after the resignation of Stanimir Stoilov a few weeks earlier. His contract was for one year with the option for a two-year extension.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: He started with a 1–0 win against Wales in Cardiff on his debut. Matthäus led Bulgaria to their first win in 2010 and in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign. On 12 October 2010, he led Bulgaria to a 2–0 win over Saudi Arabia in a friendly. On 17 November 2010, in a friendly played in Sofia, Bulgaria lost to Serbia 0–1. Despite winning his first match in the qualifiers against Wales, Bulgaria under Matthäus were unable to qualify for Euro 2012, following draws with Switzerland and Montenegro, as well as a home loss against England. On 19 September 2011, it was revealed that Matthäus had been sacked. The match against Switzerland was his final match.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: From 2001 until 2009, in parallel and in-between his coaching jobs, Matthäus wrote a column for the German weekly sports magazine "Sport Bild".


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: He also worked as in-studio TV pundit on a variety of television networks during big football competitions: for the German pay television channel Premiere during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, for the German channel ZDF during UEFA Euro 2004, for Eurosport during UEFA Euro 2008, for the Arabian network Al Jazeera Sports during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, for the Iranian channel IRIB during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and for the British TV network ITV during UEFA Euro 2016. Since the 2012–13 Bundesliga season, he worked as an expert for the Pay TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Renowned for his positioning, technical ability, stamina, passing and long range shooting abilities, Matthäus is widely considered by many to be one of the greatest and most complete midfielders of all time, and even by some as one of the greatest players of all time. Primarily a box-to-box midfielder, he was also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder or defensive midfielder.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Journalist Jacques Thibert, writing for France Football, who awarded Matthäus the 1990 Ballon d'Or, described him as a player that despite not being sublime in anything individually, was good in every aspect of the game, which allowed him to be at ease in every area of the pitch. Furthemore, Thibert credited his Inter manager Giovanni Trapattoni for turning him into a more creative, assertive and rhythmic player. At Inter under Trapattoni, Matthäus excelled in a free role in a three-man midfield, with either Gianfranco Matteoli or Sergio Battistini serving as defensive midfielder and Nicola Berti as a box-to-box.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Well into his 30's and coupled with injuries led to then German national team manager Berti Vogts's decision to convert Matthäus into a sweeper, a position that he would later play at his final five years in Bayern. As a sweeper, Matthäus enjoyed great freedom, as he could defend and do offensive runs into the opposing team's defensive area, and also exert influence into Bayern's attacking game. Aside from his passing and long range shooting abilities, Matthäus was also an expert free kick and penalty taker. In addition to his footballing skills, Matthäus was also praised for his winning mentality, determination and commanding presence on the pitch.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Lothar Matthäus was born to Heinz (1930–2019) and Katharina (1931–2020) Matthäus. His father who was born in southern Silesia, fled west across the Oder during the Soviet invasion in 1944, then worked as a canteen manager, while his mother worked for Puma.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: He has four children, and has been married five times. During his first marriage that lasted from 1981 until 1992, wife Silvia gave birth to two daughters Alisa (born 1986) and Viola (born 1988). In 1994, he married Swiss model and TV presenter Lolita Morena with whom he had a son, Loris (born 1992). The marriage ended in 1999.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: While coaching FK Partizan in Belgrade, he met 31-year-old Serbian socialite Marijana Kostić who became his third wife on 27 November 2003. It was her third marriage as well. By late 2007, the couple separated and she filed for divorce. Their divorce became official in late January 2009 following the conclusion of a year-long court case in Salzburg, Austria (their last residence) over the division of assets.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: In December 2008, 47-year-old Matthäus married 21-year-old Ukrainian model Kristina Liliana Chudinova. The ceremony was held in Las Vegas. They met a year earlier at the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich. The couple lived in Tel Aviv, Israel, where Liliana studied journalism in a local university; but started living separately by early 2010.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus features in EA Sports' "FIFA" video game series; he was on the cover of the German edition of "FIFA 2001", and features in the "FIFA 14", "FIFA 15", "FIFA 16", "FIFA 17", "FIFA 18" , "FIFA 19" and "FIFA 20" as an Ultimate Team Legend. Matthäus was also prominently featured in the opening video scene of EA's Euro 2000 video game, with Paul Oakenfold transforming the real Matthäus into an interactive digital player he controls in the game with his turntables. In August 2019, Matthäus became the face of turn-based football management game "Football, Tactics & Glory"; he does not actually appear in the game itself.


title: Lothar Matthäus

text: Matthäus had a guest role together with Joanna Tuczyńska in the television series "Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei", in which he played himself in March 2012. In June 2012, VOX broadcast a documentary titled ""Lothar – immer am Ball"".


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of club Benevento.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: A centre-back, he spent the majority of his career in Italy. He 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. After spells at Internazionale and Juventus, he transferred (along with manager Fabio Capello) from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2006, with whom he won consecutive La Liga titles in 2007 and 2008. After returning to Juventus for one season in 2009–10, he joined Al-Ahli in Dubai, where he retired from football in 2011 after an injury-troubled season. He is regarded as one of the best defenders of all time.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro was part of the Italy team which won consecutive UEFA European Under-21 Championships in 1994 and 1996. After earning his first senior cap in 1997, he helped his national team to the final of UEFA Euro 2000, being named in the team of the tournament, and became captain in 2002, following Paolo Maldini's retirement. Cannavaro led Italy to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and was given the nickname ""Il Muro di Berlino"" ("The Berlin Wall") 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. He was awarded the Silver Ball after being named the tournament's second-best player. In 2009, Cannavaro overtook Maldini as the most capped player in the country's history. He 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. In total, he has represented Italy at four World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. He is currently Italy's second all-time appearance holder, behind Gianluigi Buffon, as well as Italy's most capped defender.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro was named the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year, making him the only defender in history to have won the award. He also 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. In 2006 and 2007 Cannavaro was named in the FIFA World XI. In 2007, he was in the six man shortlist for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. His younger brother Paolo was also a professional footballer, and currently serves as a member of Guangzhou Evergrande's coaching staff under the direction of his older brother Fabio.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: After his retirement, Cannavaro became a member of the coaching staff of Al-Ahli, notably as global ambassador and technical director from 2011 to 2013, and as an assistant coach from 2013 to 2014. In November 2014, he was appointed as head coach of Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. On 9 June 2016, he signed a contract with second-tier Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian as manager where he led the team to the league title. He returned to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2017 and was briefly appointed as manager of the China national team in 2019. He left Guangzhou again in September 2021.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Fabio Cannavaro was born in Naples to Gelsomina Costanzo and Pasquale Cannavaro. His mother worked as a maid, while his father was a bank clerk. His father also played football for provincial side Giugliano. He has an elder sister named Renata and a younger brother named Paolo, who was also a professional footballer.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: As a youngster, Cannavaro played for a team from Bagnoli before being quickly spotted by the scouts of Napoli, his hometown and favourite childhood team. Cannavaro initially served as the club's ball boy and would often watch his idols Diego Maradona and Ciro Ferrara play. He 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. He 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. The rough challenge angered teammates and staff at Napoli. However, Maradona himself defended the promising player and encouraged him to play the way he wanted, and reportedly congratulated by Cannavaro by giving him his boots as a souvenir after the training session.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro's progress as a player was such that he soon became a member of the first team alongside some of his childhood idols. Cannavaro's debut in Serie A came on 7 March 1993, in Turin, in a 4–3 defeat to Juventus. As a centre-back alongside Ferrara, he soon demonstrated his anticipation, tackling, distribution and his ability to start attacking plays after winning possession. He scored his first career goal at the San Siro, against Milan, on 8 January 1995. However, despite his promising performances, the post-Maradona Napoli were in desperate need of funds and were soon forced to sell Cannavaro to Parma, where Cannavaro won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia, and was named the Serie A Defender of the Year. Cannavaro remained at Napoli until 1995, earning nearly 60 total appearances with the club, scoring one goal.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: 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. He would go on not only to win trophies with the club, but also achieve several personal accomplishments, being named the team's captain. It was also in Parma that he met Gianluigi Buffon and Lilian Thuram, who would not only form one of the tightest defensive units of Europe with Cannavaro, but would also become some of his closest friends in football. Further players featuring in this legendary Parma backline were Luigi Sartor, Roberto Mussi, Antonio Benarrivo, Luigi Apolloni and the Argentine Néstor Sensini. Cannavaro began to obtain success during his time at Parma. During his first season, Parma were eliminated in the second round of the Coppa Italia, but finished in sixth place in Serie A that season, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Parma also reached the quarter-finals of the 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup that season. Parma finished the 1996–97 Serie A season as runners-up to Serie A champions Juventus, allowing them to qualify for the UEFA Champions League the following season. Parma were once again eliminated in the second round of the Coppa Italia and in the first round of the UEFA Cup that season. In the 1997–98 season, Parma finished in fifth place in Serie A and reached the Coppa Italia semi-finals, whilst they were knocked out in the group stage of the Champions League, finishing second in their group to defending champions Borussia Dortmund.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: In his fourth season with the club, Cannavaro won his only European trophy, the UEFA Cup, as well as winning the Coppa Italia. Parma finished the Serie A season in fourth place, one point from Fiorentina in the third place spot. In the following season, Fabio's brother Paolo Cannavaro joined the team, and the two Cannavaro brothers were able to play alongside each other for the next two seasons. Fabio 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. However, Parma lost 3–1 to Inter in the Serie A Champions League playoff match, failing to qualify for the Champions League group stage. They started in the third and final qualifying round of the Champions League and were eliminated by Rangers. They were knocked out in the round of 16 of both the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia that season.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: In the 2000–01 season, Cannavaro aided in leading Parma to another Coppa Italia Final, in which they were defeated by Fiorentina. They were eliminated in the third round of the UEFA Cup that season. Parma also finished the season in fourth place for the third consecutive season, which allowed them to go through to the Champions League qualifying round, although Parma were ultimately unable to qualify. In his final season with Parma, Cannavaro managed to win his second Coppa Italia title, over Juventus, whilst Parma were eliminated in the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup, and finished the Serie A season in tenth place. As from 1997, he began to earn call-ups to the national team's senior squad due to his performances for Parma, and he was consistently one of the best defenders in Serie A. In his time with Parma, Cannavaro made over 250 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: In the summer of 2002, Cannavaro joined Internazionale for a reported €23 million, on a four-year contract. At the time, Parma were in financial difficulty, while Inter had just lost a Serie A title in dramatic circumstances to Juventus and were in the process of rebuilding following four barren years and the departure of star striker Ronaldo. Along with Francesco Coco and his former Parma teammate Hernán Crespo, Cannavaro was supposed to be one of the faces of a new-look Inter led by manager Héctor Cúper.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: However, during Cannavaro's spell with the club, Inter mostly flattered to deceive. His stint with the club began promisingly, as Inter reached the semi-finals of the 2002–03 Champions League and also finished runners-up in Serie A to Juventus in his first season with the club. However, his second season was not as productive, and he missed a large chunk of it through injury. He was also often played out of position. Inter finished fourth in Serie A and reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, losing out to Juventus on penalties. Inter finished third in their Champions League group, but would go on to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. After two years with the club, he was sold to Juventus in a surprising part-exchange deal, after just over 50 appearances and two goals. After he left Italy, Cannavaro often spoke negatively of his spell at Inter, comparing the club unfavourably with his other Italian clubs, Parma and Juventus.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: After a two-year stint with Inter, Cannavaro signed for Juventus on the summer transfer window deadline day. The deal also involved the exchange of reserve goalkeeper Fabian Carini, who left for Inter, both players priced €10 million. By moving to Turin, he reunited with his ex-Parma teammates Lilian Thuram and Gianluigi Buffon, and together the threesome formed one of the most feared defences in the Serie A, alongside the likes of Gianluca Zambrotta, Gianluca Pessotto, Alessandro Birindelli, Jonathan Zebina and Federico Balzaretti. Juventus went on to win two consecutive "Scudetti" in 2005 and 2006, although they suffered consecutive quarter final eliminations in the Champions League. In the former season, he was also paired with club icons Paolo Montero and Ciro Ferrara. Cannavaro also 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.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: After the 2006 World Cup, the "Calciopoli" trial verdicts relegated Juventus to Serie B. Since Juventus were ineligible to qualify for the Champions League, Cannavaro decided to leave. "Even if I know this may be hard to believe, I would have stayed at Juventus had they remained in Serie A – even with a 30-point deduction." He followed Juve manager Fabio Capello to Real Madrid in the summer of 2006. In his two-year "Scudetto"-winning stint with Juventus, Cannavaro made over 100 total appearances in all competitions. His transfer was met with disappointment from the Juventus fans, who had accepted him as one of their own.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Real Madrid paid €7 million to sign Cannavaro, and gave him the number 5 shirt which had previously been worn by former Madrid player and French international Zinedine Zidane. Cannavaro spent three seasons at Madrid, winning the Liga title in 2006–07 and 2007–08, and being named the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year, also winning the 2006 Ballon d'Or. Cannavaro was elected as part of the 2006 and the 2007 FIFPro World XI squads, and the 2006 UEFA Team of the Year. He was named in the six-man shortlist for the 2007 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 19 May 2009, it was confirmed Cannavaro would return to Juventus for the 2009–10 season at the conclusion of his contract. On his final match at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, he was given a standing ovation by the fans. In April 2013, Cannavaro was named by "Marca" as a member of the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history".


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Three years after 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. Cannavaro started the new season very well, forming good defensive partnerships with Nicola Legrottaglie, Martín Cáceres, Zdeněk Grygera, Fabio Grosso and most notably Giorgio Chiellini, in front of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. However, from Autumn onwards, Juventus' form took a turn for the worse. Having been injured for a while in late 2009, Cannavaro struggled with his own form both on his comeback and subsequently, and Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League, finishing third in their group.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: In March 2010, Cannavaro's relationship with the Juventus supporters, already fragile due to a perceived betrayal of the club when he left for Real Madrid, reached an all-time low. In a UEFA Europa League tie against Fulham, Juventus, who had won the first leg 3–1 at home, were leading 1–0 at Craven Cottage in London. Early in the first half, Cannavaro accumulated two bookings for reckless challenges and was sent off. Reduced to ten men, Juventus collapsed to a 4–1 loss and were eliminated on aggregate. Cannavaro enraged supporters with the sending-off and its consequent role in the team's elimination. Juventus were also eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia to eventual champions and treble winners Internazionale.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: The club finished the league season in seventh place, with only a Europa League spot, its worst Serie A finish for a decade. Juventus subsequently confirmed Cannavaro's contract would not be renewed. His 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.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 2 June 2010, it was announced Cannavaro would move to UAE League side Al-Ahli on a free transfer after the 2010 World Cup. Cannavaro signed a two-year deal. He made 16 appearances for the Dubai club, scoring two goals. Cannavaro announced his retirement from football in July 2011 due to a serious knee problem; doctors had told him he could no longer play.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: One year after Cannavaro's retirement from Al-Ahli, it was announced he was joining the Indian league team Siliguri. In a footballers' auction whose line-up included names such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Hernán Crespo and Robbie Fowler, Cannavaro was bought by Siliguri for $830,000, exceeding his "base price" by $50,000. However, the league never came to fruition and Cannavaro stayed in retirement.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro's first taste of international success came over in the mid-1990s under coach Cesare Maldini with Italy's under-21 side, winning two consecutive UEFA European Under-21 Championship titles, in 1994 and 1996, and developing an important defensive partnership with Alessandro Nesta, which would also continue at senior level. In 1996, he participated also at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He 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.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro made his debut with the Italy national team on 22 January 1997, in a friendly match against Northern Ireland. The same year, he earned plaudits for his handling of England striker Alan Shearer in a World Cup qualifying game at Wembley Stadium. Shearer was then considered by the partisan English crowd to be the best striker in the world, and thought he would make fun of the inexperienced Italian defender. Nevertheless, in a display ranking alongside those of the very best Italian defenders Claudio Gentile and Franco Baresi, Cannavaro managed to keep Shearer quiet for the whole game. Italy won the game 1–0 courtesy of a Gianfranco Zola goal.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro's first international tournament came at 1998 World Cup alongside the experienced and capable Giuseppe Bergomi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini, as well as the emerging Alessandro Nesta. The squad itself being coached by Paolo Maldini's father, Cesare Maldini. 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 Cannavaro suffered a cut to his forehead following an elbow by Stéphane Guivarc'h. The "Azzurri" managed a 0–0 draw with the match eventually being decided by a penalty shoot-out in favour of the hosts.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: At Euro 2000, under manager Dino Zoff, Cannavaro had a strong tournament, playing as centre-back alongside either Alessandro Nesta, Mark Iuliano or Paolo Maldini in 3–5–2 formation. The Italian defence only conceded two goals "en route" to the final: one against Turkey, and one against Sweden, both in the group stage, keeping three clean sheets in total. The "Azzurri" reached the final after defeating the Netherlands on penalties following a goalless draw in regulation time. Italy led the then world champions France 1–0 going into injury time. However, Sylvain Wiltord equalised in the final minute of injury time, and an extra-time golden goal from David Trezeguet gave France the title. Cannavaro was elected as part of the Team of the Tournament for his performances.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: At the 2002 World Cup, under manager Giovanni Trapattoni, Cannavaro was credited with holding the defence together almost single-handedly after his usual defensive partner Alessandro Nesta was injured against Croatia. This injury, alongside several errors by match officials, dealt a severe blow to Italy's chances of winning the World Cup; the side having relied heavily on the Cannavaro–Nesta partnership in central defence. Marco Materazzi, who deputised for Nesta, put in performances that were below his usual standards. 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. Italy went out controversially in the second round, losing to co-hosts and eventual semi-finalists South Korea, once again to a golden goal.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: 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. After Maldini's international retirement, he first captained Italy in a 1–0 defeat to Slovenia in Trieste on 21 August 2002. He was later officially named Italy's captain for an away UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match against Azerbaijan on 7 September, which Italy won 2–0. In Italy's qualifier against Serbia and Montenegro in Naples, on 12 October, he received a standing ovation on the pitch where he wore the local side's colours, as Italy drew 1–1.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro scored his first international goal on 30 May 2004, in a 4–0 win against Tunisia, in Tunis. Euro 2004, which was hosted by Portugal, turned out to be a disappointment. Cannavaro picked up yellow cards during his nations two opening group draws with Denmark (0–0) and Sweden (1–1), forcing him to sit out the final group match. Italy defeated Bulgaria 2–1, but failed to advance on goal difference.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro captained Italy throughout their successful 2006 World Cup campaign with composure and aplomb under manager Marcello Lippi. One of his key performances came in a 2–0 extra-time win against hosts Germany in the semi-finals of the tournament: in the last minute of extra-time, with Italy leading 1–0 and facing a German attack, Cannavaro outjumped Per Mertesacker to clear the ball from his area. He 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. However, Cannavaro's crowning moment was lifting the World Cup trophy on 9 July 2006, the night of his 100th cap. Cannavaro did not receive a single yellow or red card during the 690 minutes he played in the tournament. His defensive performance in the final earned him the nickname of "Wall of Berlin", as the final was played in Berlin.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Along with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Cannavaro played each minute of every match in the tournament for Italy, completing 211 passes and winning 16 challenges. Even with usual defensive partner Alessandro Nesta out due to injury, the Italian defence kept a record five clean sheets and conceded only two goals throughout the entire tournament: an own-goal against the United States and a Zinedine Zidane penalty in the final against France.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro's leadership and marshalling of the Italian defence throughout their march to the final earned him a place in the All-Star Team at the end of the competition (awarded by FIFA's Technical Study Group) alongside six other Italian teammates: Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Totti, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Toni and Gianluca Zambrotta. He 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. Cannavaro was also 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, also being named to the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 2 June 2008, Cannavaro was injured during Italy's first training session for Euro 2008. He sustained a knock following a tackle by fellow defender Giorgio Chiellini and was carried off the field on a stretcher. Italian squad doctor Paolo Zeppilli said, "We have to do tests but it does not look like a minor injury." These tests consequently showed that he had torn ligaments in his left ankle. Right after the examinations, Italian journalists waited for Cannavaro, who told them simply, "I'm going home", with a melancholic smile on his face. With that news, Italy manager Roberto Donadoni then called up Fiorentina centre-back Alessandro Gamberini as his official replacement. Alessandro Del Piero captained the team in his place. Cannavaro added that he would stay with the squad to offer support. This would have been Cannavaro's third Euro tournament.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro also 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.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: In Italy's final 2009 Confederations Cup group match against Brazil, Cannavaro equalled Paolo Maldini's record of being Italy's most capped player, although Italy were defeated 3–0 and were disappointingly eliminated from the tournament in the group stage. On 12 August 2009, in a friendly match against Switzerland, Cannavaro became Italy's most capped player of all time. He won his 127th cap for his country, beating Maldini's former record of 126.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro captained Italy at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, once again 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. The defending champions crashed out of the competition in the first round, losing 3–2 to Slovakia after drawing against New Zealand and Paraguay. Following Italy's failure to progress past the group stage, Cannavaro announced his retirement from international football. In total, 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. Cannavaro has also made the second-most appearances for Italy as captain, behind only Buffon, wearing the armband on 79 occasions.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: After his retirement, Cannavaro was appointed as a global brand ambassador and technical consultant of Al-Ahli Club of Dubai on 25 August 2011. In July 2013, after Cosmin Olăroiu took charge as new head coach of Al-Ahli, Cannavaro was named as his first team coach. He guided Al-Ahli to UAE Pro League and UAE League Cup titles in his first season in charge.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 5 November 2014, 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. Cannavaro was formally unveiled by the club on the same day. On 4 June 2015, Guangzhou Evergrande suddenly announced Cannavaro was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari after a Super League match against Tianjin Teda.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 24 October 2015, Cannavaro was named new head coach of Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr replacing Jorge da Silva. The following 11 February, he rescinded his contract.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 9 June 2016, Tianjin Quanjian, who were on a streak of seven consecutive competitive matches without a win under Vanderlei Luxemburgo, announced Cannavaro became the new manager of the club. They were ranked eighth place in the league at the time, and on 22 October he guided Quanjian to the 2016 China League One title, thus sealing their promotion to the 2017 Chinese Super League.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Under 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. On 6 November 2017, Quanjian announced the club accepted Cannavaro's resignation from the club. He won the Chinese Football Association Coach of the Year award in November 2017.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 9 November 2017, Guangzhou Evergrande appointed Cannavaro as manager for the second time. He was relieved of his position on 27 October 2019, and went to corporate culture training, with captain Zheng Zhi the acting manager. He returned six days later. On 1 December 2019, he won the Chinese Super League. Cannavaro left Guangzhou again in September 2021.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 15 March 2019, Cannavaro was appointed manager of the China national team, in conjunction with coaching Guangzhou Evergrande. Six days later he lost his first match in charge, a 1–0 home defeat in the China Cup to Thailand. On 28 April, he stood down to focus on his role at Guangzhou Evergrande.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 21 September 2022, Cannavaro took on his first managerial job in his native Italy, becoming the new head coach of Serie B club Benevento.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: 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. Although he predominantly excelled as a centre-back, due to his ability to read the game, he was also deployed as a right or left sided full-back on occasion, in particular under his Inter coach Héctor Cúper. This was made possible due to Cannavaro's tactical intelligence, versatility, technical ability, ball playing ability, stamina, low centre of gravity and pace, which also enabled him to start plays from the backline after winning possession.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: As a defender, Cannavaro was known in particular for his concentration, anticipation, awareness and positional sense. Despite his relatively small stature for a defender, he was highly regarded for his aerial ability, courtesy of his elevation, physical strength, athleticism, timing and heading accuracy, which enabled him to outjump larger players, and made him particularly adept at defending crosses, or at scoring with his head from set-pieces. Throughout his career, he made a name for himself as a dynamic, consistent, tenacious and complete defender, known for his acceleration, speed, reactions, and agility, as well as his tackling ability, and in particular, his precise sliding challenges. Due to his wide range of skills, he excelled in a zonal marking system, but was also an excellent man-marker. Nicknamed "Canna" ("reed"), by his former Italy defensive teammate Paolo Maldini, as a reference to his surname and mental strength, in addition to his ability as a defender, Cannavaro was also known for his leadership, determination, strong temperament and charisma, both on and off the pitch, as well as his ability to organise his defence. Cannavaro also attributes his positive character, calm composure under pressure and self-assurance in his abilities, as well as his diet, work-rate and discipline in training, as some of the key reasons for his success as a footballer, as well as his ability to inspire confidence in his teammates.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro was sponsored by sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials. In a Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Cannavaro starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scopion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee". A 2010 Nike commercial, Write the Future directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, begins with Cannavaro making an impressive goal-line clearance from a Didier Drogba shot, before it cuts away to him being guest of honour on a Mediaset-style Italian variety programme, where dancers wearing sequined variations of his #6 shirt re-enact the clearance while suspended on wires.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro was on the cover of the Italian edition of SCEE's "This is Football 2003". Cannavaro also features in EA Sports' "FIFA" video game series; he was named to the Ultimate Team Legends in "FIFA 14". An icon in "FIFA 19", Cannavaro has a 92 rating. Cannavaro worked as a pundit on ITV during the 2014 World Cup.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro married Daniela Arenoso (b. 1974) on 17 June 1996, they have three children, Christian (b. 1998) – also a footballer, currently playing as a midfielder for Serie A side Benevento –, Martina (b. 2001) and Andrea (b. 2004).


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: Cannavaro's younger brother, Paolo, was also a defender who last played for Sassuolo, and previously also played for Napoli, Verona and Parma. The two brothers played alongside each other at Parma from 2000 until 2002, when Fabio left for Inter. Before his retirement, Fabio had often expressed interest in ending his career with Paolo in a Napoli shirt.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: With his fellow Neapolitan friend and former defensive teammate Ciro Ferrara, Cannavaro has helped establish a charity foundation, "Fondazione Cannavaro Ferrara", specialising in the procurement of cancer research equipment and surgery for special cases of cancer for a hospital in their native Naples; the foundation also aims to help at risk youth in Naples.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: The night before the 1999 UEFA Cup Final, a video tape was released which showed Cannavaro being injected with a substance. The substance was found to be neoton (phosphocreatine), which is used in cardiac surgery to protect the heart during periods of anoxia and stress. It is not on the banned substance list. This chemical is, in partnership with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), fundamental to the ability of the body to produce muscular energy. Phosphocreatine is formed naturally within the body, with over 95% of the compound stored within the muscle cells. The body also receives dietary creatine primarily through the consumption of meat. No action was taken regarding this incident.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: On 8 October 2009, Cannavaro failed a drug test. However, Juventus claimed the drugs were medicine for a severe allergic reaction to a wasp sting, and not performance-enhancing. Because of the urgent nature of the treatment, Cannavaro could not ask for permission to CONI in time, which was done immediately afterwards. Apparently while awaiting the conclusion of formalities involved for CONI with granting this permission, he was subjected to the drug test that eventually gave the positive result. CONI later dropped charges against him.


title: Fabio Cannavaro

text: In February 2015, Cannavaro, his wife Daniela and his brother Paolo were respectively handed ten-month, four-month and six-month prison sentences for breaching orders and entering Fabio's residence after it had been seized by authorities in 2009, amid an investigation into fraudulent activity and tax evasion. All three have appealed and will have their sentences suspended until the final judgement has been made.


title: Robert Altman

text: Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era.


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman's style of filmmaking covered many genres, but usually with a "subversive" twist which typically relied on satire and humor to express his personal views. Altman developed a reputation for being "anti-Hollywood" and non-conformist in both his themes and directing style. Actors especially enjoyed working under his direction because he encouraged them to improvise, thereby inspiring their own creativity.


title: Robert Altman

text: He preferred large ensemble casts for his films, and developed a multitrack recording technique which produced overlapping dialogue from multiple actors. This produced a more natural, more dynamic, and more complex experience for the viewer. He also used highly mobile camera work and zoom lenses to enhance the activity taking place on the screen. Critic Pauline Kael, writing about his directing style, said that Altman could "make film fireworks out of next to nothing." Altman's most famous directorial achievements include "M*A*S*H" (1970), "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971), "The Long Goodbye" (1973), "Nashville" (1975), "3 Women" (1977), "The Player" (1992), "Short Cuts" (1993), and "Gosford Park" (2001).


title: Robert Altman

text: In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized Altman's body of work with an Academy Honorary Award. He never won a competitive Oscar despite seven nominations. His films "M*A*S*H", "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "The Long Goodbye" and "Nashville" have been selected for the United States National Film Registry. Altman is one of three filmmakers whose films have won the Golden Bear at Berlin, the Golden Lion at Venice, and the Golden Palm at Cannes (the other two being Henri-Georges Clouzot and Michelangelo Antonioni).


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman was born on February 20, 1925, in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Helen (née Matthews), a "Mayflower" descendant from Nebraska, and Bernard Clement Altman, a wealthy insurance salesman and amateur gambler, who came from an upper-class family. Altman's ancestry was German, English and Irish; his paternal grandfather, Frank Altman Sr., anglicized the spelling of the family name from "Altmann" to "Altman". Altman had a Catholic upbringing, but he did not continue to follow or practice the religion as an adult, although he has been referred to as "a sort of Catholic" and a Catholic director. He was educated at Jesuit schools, including Rockhurst High School, in Kansas City. He graduated from Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri in 1943.


title: Robert Altman

text: Soon after graduation, Altman joined the United States Army Air Forces at the age of 18. During World War II, Altman flew more than 50 bombing missions as a co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator with the 307th Bomb Group in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies.


title: Robert Altman

text: Upon his discharge in 1947, Altman moved to California. He worked in publicity for a company that had invented a tattooing machine to identify dogs. He entered filmmaking on a whim, selling a script to RKO for the 1948 picture "Bodyguard", which he co-wrote with George W. George. Altman's immediate success encouraged him to move to New York City, where he attempted to forge a career as a writer. Having enjoyed little success, he returned to Kansas City in 1949; where he accepted a job as a director and writer of industrial films for the Calvin Company. Altman directed some 65 industrial films and documentaries for the Calvin Company. Through his early work on industrial films, Altman experimented with narrative technique and developed his characteristic use of overlapping dialogue. In February 2012, an early Calvin film directed by Altman, "Modern Football" (1951), was found by filmmaker Gary Huggins.


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman's first forays into TV directing were on the DuMont drama series "Pulse of the City" (1953–1954), and an episode of the 1956 western series "The Sheriff of Cochise". In 1956, he was hired by a local businessman to write and direct a feature film in Kansas City on juvenile delinquency. The film, titled "The Delinquents", made for $60,000, was purchased by United Artists for $150,000, and released in 1957. While primitive, this teen exploitation film contained the foundations of Altman's later work in its use of casual, naturalistic dialogue. With its success, Altman moved from Kansas City to California for the last time. He co-directed "The James Dean Story" (1957), a documentary rushed into theaters to capitalize on the actor's recent death and marketed to his emerging cult following. Both works caught the attention of Alfred Hitchcock who hired Altman as a director for his CBS anthology series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". After just two episodes, Altman resigned due to differences with a producer, but this exposure enabled him to forge a successful TV career. Over the next decade Altman worked prolifically in television (and almost exclusively in series dramas) directing multiple episodes of "Whirlybirds", "The Millionaire", "U.S. Marshal", "The Troubleshooters", "The Roaring 20s", "Bonanza", "Bus Stop", "Kraft Mystery Theater", "Combat!", as well as single episodes of several other notable series including "Hawaiian Eye", "Maverick" (the fourth season episode "Bolt From the Blue" also written by Altman and starring Roger Moore), "Lawman", "Surfside 6", "Peter Gunn", and "Route 66".


title: Robert Altman

text: By the 1960s, Altman established himself as a TV director due to his ability to work quickly and efficiently on a limited budget. Though he was frequently fired from TV projects for refusing to conform to network mandates, Altman always was able to land new assignments. In 1964, the producers decided to expand "Once Upon a Savage Night", one of his episodes of "Kraft Suspense Theatre", for release as a TV movie under the title "Nightmare in Chicago". In a 1963 episode, "The Hunt", his cast included James Caan and Bruce Dern.


title: Robert Altman

text: Two years later, Altman was hired to direct the low-budget space travel feature "Countdown", but was fired within days of the project's conclusion because he had refused to edit the film to a manageable length. He worked with Caan again, who led the cast with Robert Duvall. He did not direct another film until "That Cold Day in the Park" (1969), which was a critical and box-office disaster.


title: Robert Altman

text: During the decade, Altman began to express political subtexts within his works. In particular, he expressed antiwar sentiments regarding the Vietnam War. Because of this, Altman's career would somewhat suffer as he came to be associated with the anti-war movement.


title: Robert Altman

text: In 1969, Altman was offered the script for "MASH", an adaptation of a little-known Korean War-era novel satirizing life in the armed services; more than a dozen other filmmakers had passed on it. Altman had been hesitant to take the production, and the shoot was so tumultuous that Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland tried to have Altman fired over his unorthodox filming methods. Nevertheless, "MASH" was widely hailed as a classic upon its 1970 release. It won the "Palme d'Or" at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival and netted five Academy Award nominations. It was Altman's highest-grossing film, released during a time of increasing anti-war sentiment in the United States. The Academy Film Archive preserved "MASH" in 2000.


title: Robert Altman

text: Now recognized as a major talent, Altman notched critical successes with "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971), a Revisionist Western in which the mordant songs of Leonard Cohen underscore a gritty vision of the American frontier; "The Long Goodbye" (1973), a controversial adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel (scripted by Leigh Brackett) now ranked as a seminal influence on the neo-noir subgenre; "Thieves Like Us" (1974), an adaptation of the Edward Anderson novel previously filmed by Nicholas Ray as "They Live by Night" (1949); "California Split" (1974), a gambling comedy-drama shot partially on location in Reno, Nevada; and "Nashville" (1975), which had a strong political theme set against the world of country music. The stars of the film wrote their own songs; Keith Carradine won an Academy Award for the song "I'm Easy". Although his films were often met with divisive notices, many of the prominent film critics of the era (including Pauline Kael, Vincent Canby and Roger Ebert) remained steadfastly loyal to his directorial style throughout the decade.


title: Robert Altman

text: Audiences took some time to appreciate his films, and he did not want to have to satisfy studio officials. In 1970, following the release of "MASH," he founded Lion's Gate Films to have independent production freedom. Altman's company is not to be confused with the current Lionsgate, a Canada/U.S. entertainment company. The films he made through his company included "Brewster McCloud", "A Wedding", "3 Women", and "Quintet".


title: Robert Altman

text: In 1980, he directed the musical film "Popeye". Produced by Robert Evans and written by Jules Feiffer, the film was based on the comic strip / cartoon of the same name and starred Shelley Duvall and the comedian Robin Williams in his film debut. Designed as a vehicle to increase Altman's commercial clout following a series of critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful low-budget films in the late 1970s (including "3 Women", "A Wedding" and "Quintet"), the production was filmed on location in Malta. It was soon beleaguered by heavy drug and alcohol use among most of the cast and crew, including the director; Altman reportedly clashed with Evans, Williams (who threatened to leave the film), and songwriter Harry Nilsson (who departed midway through the shoot, leaving Van Dyke Parks to finish the orchestrations). Although the film grossed $60 million worldwide on a $20 million budget and was the second highest-grossing film Altman had directed to that point, it failed to meet studio expectations and was considered a box office disappointment.


title: Robert Altman

text: In 1981, the director sold Lion's Gate to producer Jonathan Taplin after his political satire "Health" (shot in early 1979 for a Christmas release) was shelved by longtime distributor 20th Century Fox following tepid test and festival screenings throughout 1980. The departure of longtime Altman partisan Alan Ladd Jr. from Fox also played a decisive role in forestalling the release of the film.


title: Robert Altman

text: Unable to secure major financing in the post-New Hollywood blockbuster era because of his mercurial reputation and the particularly tumultuous events surrounding the production of "Popeye", Altman began to "direct literate dramatic properties on shoestring budgets for stage, home video, television, and limited theatrical release," including the acclaimed "Secret Honor" and "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean", a critically antipodean adaptation of a play that Altman had directed on Broadway.


title: Robert Altman

text: In 1982, Altman staged a production of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" at the University of Michigan, where he concurrently taught a course on his films. Shortly thereafter, he returned to film "Secret Honor" with students. In 2008, the University of Michigan Library acquired Altman's archive. He also co-wrote John Anderson's 1983 hit single "Black Sheep".


title: Robert Altman

text: The teen comedy "O.C. and Stiggs" (1985), an abortive return to Hollywood filmmaking retrospectively characterized by the British Film Institute as "probably Altman's least successful film", received a belated limited commercial release in 1987 after being shelved by MGM.


title: Robert Altman

text: Adapted by Altman and Sam Shepard for The Cannon Group from Shepard's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, "Fool for Love" (1985) featured the playwright-actor alongside Kim Basinger, Harry Dean Stanton, and Randy Quaid; it fared better than most of his films from the era, earning $900,000 domestically on a $2 million budget and positive reviews from Roger Ebert and Vincent Canby. Still, widespread popularity with audiences continued to elude him.


title: Robert Altman

text: He continued to regain a modicum of critical favor for his television mockumentary "Tanner '88" (1988), a collaboration with Garry Trudeau set in the milieu of a United States presidential campaign, for which he earned a Primetime Emmy Award.


title: Robert Altman

text: In 1990, Altman directed "Vincent & Theo", a biographical film about Vincent van Gogh that was intended as a television miniseries for broadcast in the United Kingdom. A theatrical version of the film was a modest success in the United States, marking a significant turning point in the director's critical resurgence.


title: Robert Altman

text: He revitalized his career in earnest with "The Player" (1992), a satire of Hollywood. Co-produced by the influential David Brown ("The Sting", "Jaws", "Cocoon"), the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director. While he did not win the Oscar, he was awarded Best Director by the Cannes Film Festival, BAFTA, and the New York Film Critics Circle.


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman then directed "Short Cuts" (1993), an ambitious adaptation of several short stories by Raymond Carver, which portrayed the lives of various citizens of Los Angeles over the course of several days. The film's large cast and intertwining of many different storylines were similar to his large-cast films of the 1970s; he won the Golden Lion at the 1993 Venice International Film Festival and another Oscar nomination for Best Director.


title: Robert Altman

text: The rest of the 1990s saw limited success for Altman. His 1994 release "Prêt-à-Porter" (also known as "Ready to Wear") garnered significant pre-release publicity, but was a commercial and critical flop, though it got several nominations for year-end awards, including two Golden Globe nominations and won the National Board of Review award for Best Acting By An Ensemble. In 1996, Altman directed "Kansas City", expressing his love of 1930s jazz through a complicated kidnapping story. The story received lukewarm-to-positive reviews, but made next to nothing at the box office, as did the 1998 legal thriller "The Gingerbread Man".


title: Robert Altman

text: He did close the decade on a high note, with 1999's "Cookie's Fortune", a quirky black comedy about the suicide of a wealthy dowager, his first film in almost 6 years to make back its budget, and which earned him generally positive praise from critics. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999.


title: Robert Altman

text: "Gosford Park" (2001), a large-cast, British country house murder mystery, was included on many critics' lists of the ten best films of that year. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (Julian Fellowes) plus six more nominations, including two for Altman, as Best Director and Best Picture.


title: Robert Altman

text: Working with independent studios such as the now-shuttered Fine Line, Artisan (which was absorbed into today's Lionsgate), and USA Films (now Focus Features), gave Altman the edge in making the kinds of films he always wanted to make without studio interference. A film version of Garrison Keillor's public radio series "A Prairie Home Companion" was released in June 2006. Altman was still developing new projects up until his death, including a film based on "" (1997).


title: Robert Altman

text: In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Altman an Academy Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement. During his acceptance speech, he revealed that he had received a heart transplant approximately ten or eleven years earlier. The director then quipped that perhaps the Academy had acted prematurely in recognizing the body of his work, as he felt like he might have four more decades of life ahead of him.


title: Robert Altman

text: Following his successful career in television, Altman began his new career in the movie industry when he was in middle-age. He understood the creative limits imposed by the television genre, and now set out to direct and write films which would express his personal visions about American society and Hollywood. His films would later be described as "auteuristic attacks" and "idiosyncratic variations" of traditional films, typically using subtle comedy or satire as a way of expressing his observations.


title: Robert Altman

text: His films were typically related to political, ideological, and personal subjects, and Altman was known for "refusing to compromise his own artistic vision." He has been described as "anti-Hollywood," often ignoring the social pressures that affected others in the industry, which made it more difficult for him to get many of his films seen. He said his independence as a filmmaker helped him overall:


title: Robert Altman

text: "Altman was a genuine movie maverick," states author Ian Freer, because he went against the commercial conformity of the movie industry: "He was the scourge of the film establishment, and his work generally cast an astute, scathing eye over the breadth of American culture, often exploding genres and character archetypes; Altman was fascinated by people with imperfections, people as they really are, not as the movies would have you believe." Director Alan Rudolph, during a special tribute to Altman, refers to his moviemaking style as "Altmanesque."


title: Robert Altman

text: With his independent style of directing, he developed a bad reputation among screenwriters and those on the business side of films. He admits, "I have a bad reputation with writers, developed over the years: 'Oh, he doesn't do what you write, blah blah blah.' ... Ring Lardner was very pissed off with me," for not following his script. Nor did Altman get along well with studio heads, once punching an executive in the nose and knocking him into a swimming pool because he insisted he cut six minutes from a film he was working on.


title: Robert Altman

text: His reputation among actors was better. With them, his independence sometimes extended to his choice of actors, often going against consensus. Cher, for instance, credits him for launching her career with both the stage play and film, "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" (1982). "Without Bob I would have never had a film career. Everyone told him not to cast me. Everyone. ... Nobody would give me a break. I am convinced that Bob was the only one who was brave enough to do it." Others, like Julianne Moore, describes working with him:


title: Robert Altman

text: Director Robert Dornhelm said Altman "looked at film as a pure, artistic venue." With "Short Cuts" (1993), for instance, the distributor "begged him" to cut a few minutes from the length, to keep it commercially viable: "Bob just thought the antiChrist was trying to destroy his art. They were well-meaning people who wanted him to get what he deserved, which was a big commercial hit. But when it came down to the art or the money, he was with the art."


title: Robert Altman

text: Sally Kellerman, noting Altman's willful attitude, still looks back with regret at giving up a chance to act in one of his films:


title: Robert Altman

text: Unlike directors whose work fits within various film genres, such as Westerns, musicals, war films, or comedies, Altman's work has been defined as more "anti-genre" by various critics. This is partly due to the satirical and comedy nature of many of his films. Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin, compared the humor in his films to her father's films:


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman made it clear that he did not like "storytelling" in his films, contrary to the way most television and mainstream movies are made. According to Altman biographer Mitchell Zuckoff, "he disliked the word 'story,' believing that a plot should be secondary to an exploration of pure (or, even better, impure) human behavior." Zuckoff describes the purposes underlying many of Altman's films: "He loved the chaotic nature of real life, with conflicting perspectives, surprising twists, unexplained actions, and ambiguous endings. He especially loved many voices, sometimes arguing, sometimes agreeing, ideally overlapping, a cocktail party or a street scene captured as he experienced it. Julianne Moore, after seeing some of his movies, credits Altman's style of directing for her decision to become a film actress, rather than a stage actress:


title: Robert Altman

text: Film author Charles Derry writes that Altman's films "characteristically contain perceptive observations, telling exchanges, and moments of crystal clear revelation of human folly." Because Altman was an astute observer of society and "especially interested in people," notes Derry, many of his film characters had "that sloppy imperfection associated with human beings as they are, with life as it is lived." As a result, his films are often an indirect critique of American society.


title: Robert Altman

text: For many of Altman's films, the satirical content is evident: "MASH" (1970), for example, is a satirical black comedy set during the Korean War; "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971) is a satire on Westerns; author Matthew Kennedy states that "Nashville" (1975) is a "brilliant satire of America immediately prior to the Bicentennial"; "A Wedding" (1978) is a satire on American marriage rituals and hypocrisy; Altman himself said that "The Player" (1992) was "a very mild satire" about the Hollywood film industry, and Vincent Canby agreed, stating that "as a satire, "The Player" tickles. It doesn't draw blood." The satire of his films sometimes led to their failure at the box office if their satirical nature was not understood by the distributor. Altman blames the box office failure of "The Long Goodbye" (1973), a detective story, on the erroneous marketing of the film as a thriller:


title: Robert Altman

text: Similarly, Altman also blames the failure of "O.C. & Stiggs" on its being marketed as a typical "teenage movie," rather than what he filmed it as, a "satire of a teenage movie," he said.


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman favored stories expressing the interrelationships among several characters, being more interested in character motivation than in intricate plots. He therefore tended to sketch out only a basic plot for the film, referring to the screenplay as a "blueprint" for action. By encouraging his actors to improvise dialogue, Altman thus became known as an "actor's director," a reputation that attracted many notable actors to work as part of his large casts. Performers enjoy working with Altman in part because "he provides them with the freedom to develop their characters and often alter the script through improvisation and collaboration," notes Derry. Richard Baskin says that "Bob was rather extraordinary in his way of letting people do what they did. He trusted you to do what you did and therefore you would kill for him."


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman regularly let his actors develop a character through improvisation during rehearsal or sometimes during the actual filming. Such improvisation was uncommon in film due to the high cost of movie production which requires careful planning, precise scripts, and rehearsal, before costly film was exposed. Nevertheless, Altman preferred to use improvisation as a tool for helping his actors develop their character. Altman said that "once we start shooting it's a very set thing. Improvisation is misunderstood. We don't just turn people loose." Although he tried to avoid dictating an actor's every move, preferring to let them be in control:


title: Robert Altman

text: Carol Burnett remembers Altman admitting that many of the ideas in his films came from the actors. "You never hear a director say that. That was truly an astonishing thing," she said. Others, such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, became creatively driven:


title: Robert Altman

text: He liked working with many of the same performers, including Shelley Duvall and Bert Remsen (7 films each); Paul Dooley (6 films); Michael Murphy (5 films); Jeff Goldblum, Lily Tomlin, Lyle Lovett, Henry Gibson, David Arkin, and John Schuck (4 films each); Tim Robbins, Carol Burnett, Belita Moreno, Richard E. Grant, Geraldine Chaplin, Craig Richard Nelson, Sally Kellerman and Keith Carradine (3 films each). Krin Gabbard adds that Altman enjoyed using actors "who flourish as improvisers," such as Elliott Gould, who starred in three of his films, "MASH", "The Long Goodbye" and "California Split". Gould recalls that when filming "MASH", his first acting job with Altman, he and costar Donald Sutherland didn't think Altman knew what he was doing. He wrote years later, "I think that in hindsight, Donald and I were two elitist, arrogant actors who really weren't getting Altman's genius." Others in the cast immediately appreciated Altman's directing style. René Auberjonois explains:


title: Robert Altman

text: Unlike television and traditional films, Altman also avoided "conventional storytelling," and would opt for showing the "busy confusion of real life," observes Albert Lindauer. Among the various techniques to achieve this effect, his films often include "a profusion of sounds and images, by huge casts or crazy characters, multiple plots or no plots at all, ... and a reliance on improvisation." A few months before he died, Altman tried to summarize the motives behind his filmmaking style:


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman was one of the few filmmakers who "paid full attention to the possibilities of sound" when filming. He tried to replicate natural conversational sounds, even with large casts, by wiring hidden microphones to actors, then recording them talking over each other with multiple soundtracks. During the filming, he wore a headset to ensure that important dialogue could be heard, without emphasizing it. This produced a "dense audio experience" for viewers, allowing them to hear multiple scraps of dialogue, as if they were listening in on various private conversations. Altman recognized that although large casts hurt a film commercially, "I like to see a lot of stuff going on."


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman first used overlapping soundtracks in "MASH" (1970), a sound technique which movie author Michael Barson describes as "a breathtaking innovation at the time." He developed it, Altman said, to force viewers to pay attention and become engaged in the film as if they were an active participant. According to some critics, one of the more extreme uses of the technique is in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971), also considered among his finest films.


title: Robert Altman

text: Film historian/scholar Robert P. Kolker pointed out that the aural and visual simultaneity in Altman's films was critical as that represented an emphasis on the plurality of events, which required viewers to become active spectators.


title: Robert Altman

text: Overlapping dialogue among large groups of actors adds complexity to Altman's films, and they were often criticized as appearing haphazard or disconnected on first viewing. Some of his critics changed their minds after seeing them again. British film critic David Thomson gave "Nashville" (1975) a bad review after watching it the first time, but later wrote, "But going back to "Nashville" and some of the earlier films, ... made me reflect: It remains enigmatic how organized or purposeful "Nashville" is. ... The mosaic, or mix, permits a freedom and a human idiosyncrasy that Renoir might have admired." During the making of the film, the actors were inspired, and co-star Ronee Blakley was convinced of the film's ultimate success:


title: Robert Altman

text: Thomson later recognized those aspects as being part of Altman's style, beginning with "MASH" (1970): ""MASH" began to develop the crucial Altman style of overlapping, blurred sound and images so slippery with zoom that there was no sense of composition. That is what makes "Nashville" so absorbing." Altman explained that to him such overlapping dialogue in his films was closer to reality, especially with large groups: "If you've got fourteen people at a dinner table, it seems to me it's pretty unlikely that only two of them are going to be talking." Pauline Kael writes that Altman, "the master of large ensembles, loose action, and overlapping voices, demonstrates that ... he can make film fireworks out of next to nothing."


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman's distinctive style of directing carried over into his preferences for camerawork. Among them was his use of widescreen compositions, intended to capture the many people or activities taking place on screen at the same time. For some films, such as "McCabe and Mrs. Miller", he created a powerful visual atmosphere with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, such as scenes using fluid camerawork, zoom lenses, and a smoky effect using special fog filters. Director Stanley Kubrick told Altman that "the camerawork was wonderful," and asked, "How did you do it?"


title: Robert Altman

text: In "Nashville", Altman used sets with noticeable colors of reds, whites and blues. For "The Long Goodbye", he insisted that Zsigmond keep the camera mobile by mounting it to moving objects. Zsigmond states that Altman "wanted to do something different" in this film, and told him he "wanted the camera to move — all the time. Up. down. In and out. Side to side." Cinematographer Roger Deakins, discussing his use of zoom lenses, commented, "I would find it quite exciting to shoot a film with a zoom lens if it was that observational, roving kind of look that Robert Altman was known for. He'd put the camera on a jib arm and float across the scene and pick out these shots as he went along – quite a nice way of working."


title: Robert Altman

text: Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" received a nomination by the British Academy Film Awards.


title: Robert Altman

text: When using music in his films, Altman was known to be highly selective, often choosing music that he personally liked. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, who worked with him, notes that "Altman's use of music is always important," adding, "Bob loved his music, didn't he? My God, he loved his music". Since he was a "great fan" of Leonard Cohen's music, for example, saying he would "just get stoned and play that stuff" all the time he used three of his songs in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971), and another for the final scene in "A Wedding" (1978).


title: Robert Altman

text: For "Nashville" (1975), Altman had numerous new country music songs written by his cast to create a realistic atmosphere. He incorporated a "hauntingly repeated melody" in "The Long Goodbye" (1973), and employed Harry Nilsson and Van Dyke Parks to score "Popeye" (1980).


title: Robert Altman

text: A number of music experts have written about Altman's use of music, including Richard R. Ness, who wrote about the scores for many of Altman's films in an article, considered to be a valuable resource for understanding Altman's filmmaking technique. Similarly, cinema studies professor Krin Gabbard wrote an analysis of Altman's use of jazz music in "Short Cuts" (1993), noting that few critics have considered the "importance of the music" in the film.


title: Robert Altman

text: Jazz was also significant in "Kansas City" (1996). In that film, the music is considered to be the basis of the story. Altman states that "the whole idea was not to be too specific about the story," but to have the film itself be "rather a sort of jazz." Altman's technique of making the theme of a film a form of music, was considered "an experiment nobody has tried before," with Altman admitting it was risky. "I didn't know if it would work. ... If people 'get it,' then they really tend to like it."


title: Robert Altman

text: Directors who are influenced by Altman include Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Judd Apatow, Richard Linklater, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Noah Baumbach, David Gordon Green, the Safdie brothers, Harmony Korine, and Michael Winterbottom.


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman received various awards and nominations including seven Academy Award nominations winning the Honorary Oscar in 2006. He received seven British Academy Film Award nominations winning twice for "The Player" (1992), and "Gosford Park" (2001). He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Tanner '88" (1988). He also received five Golden Globe Award nominations winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Director for "Gosford Park". He also received various awards from film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme d'Or for "M*A*S*H" and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director for "The Player". He has also received the Berlin International Film Festival's Golden Bear, and the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion. In 1994, he received the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award.


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman was married three times: His first wife was LaVonne Elmer. They were married from 1947 to 1949, and had a daughter, Christine. His second wife was Lotus Corelli. They were married from 1950 to 1955, and had two sons, Michael and Stephen. At fourteen, Michael wrote the lyrics to "Suicide Is Painless", the theme song to Altman's movie, "MASH". Stephen is a production designer who often worked with his father. Altman's third wife was Kathryn Reed. They were married from 1957 until his death in 2006. They had two sons, Robert and Matthew. Altman became the stepfather to Konni Reed when he married Kathryn.


title: Robert Altman

text: Kathryn Altman, who died in 2016, co-authored a book about Altman that was published in 2014. She had served as a consultant and narrator for the 2014 documentary "Altman", and had spoken at many retrospective screenings of her husband's films.


title: Robert Altman

text: In the 1960s, Altman lived for years in Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood, California. He resided in Malibu throughout the 1970s, but sold that home and the Lion's Gate production company in 1981. "I had no choice", he told "The New York Times". "Nobody was answering the phone" after the flop of "Popeye". He moved his family and business headquarters to New York City, but eventually moved back to Malibu, where he lived until his death.


title: Robert Altman

text: In November 2000, Altman claimed that he would move to Paris if George W. Bush were elected, but joked that he had meant Paris, Texas, when it came to pass. He noted that "the state would be better off if he (Bush) is out of it." Altman was an outspoken marijuana user, and served as a member of the NORML advisory board. He was also an atheist and an anti-war activist. He was one of numerous public figures, including linguist Noam Chomsky and actress Susan Sarandon, who signed the "Not in Our Name" declaration opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Julian Fellowes believes that Altman's anti-war and anti-Bush stance cost him the Best Director Oscar for "Gosford Park".


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman despised the television series "M*A*S*H" which followed his 1970 film, citing it as being the antithesis of what his movie was about, and citing its anti-war messages as being "racist". In the 2001 DVD commentary for "MASH", he stated clearly the reasons for which he disapproved of the series.


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman died from leukemia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on November 20, 2006, at the age of 81.


title: Robert Altman

text: Fellow film director Paul Thomas Anderson dedicated his 2007 film "There Will Be Blood" to Altman. Anderson had worked as a standby director on "A Prairie Home Companion" for insurance purposes in the event the ailing 80 year-old Altman would be unable to finish shooting.


title: Robert Altman

text: During a celebration tribute to Altman a few months after his death, he was described as a "passionate filmmaker" and auteur who rejected convention, creating what director Alan Rudolph called an "Altmanesque" style of films. He preferred large casts of actors, natural overlapping conversations, and encouraged his actors to improvise and express their innate creativity, but without fear of failing. Lily Tomlin compared him to "a great benign patriarch who was always looking out for you as an actor", adding that "you're not afraid to take chances with him."


title: Robert Altman

text: Many of his films are described as "acid satires and counterculture character studies that redefined and reinvigorated modern cinema." Although his films spanned most film genres, such as Westerns, musicals, war films, or comedies, he was considered "anti-genre", and his films were "candidly subversive". He was known to hate the "phoniness" he saw in most mainstream films, and "he wanted to explode them" through satire.


title: Robert Altman

text: Actor Tim Robbins, who starred in a number of Altman's films, describes some of the unique aspects of his directing method:


title: Robert Altman

text: Altman's personal archives are located at the University of Michigan, which include about 900 boxes of personal papers, scripts, legal, business and financial records, photographs, props and related material. Altman had filmed "Secret Honor" at the university, as well as directed several operas there.


title: Robert Altman

text: Since 2009, the Robert Altman Award is awarded to the director, casting director, and ensemble cast of films at the yearly Independent Spirit Awards.


title: Robert Altman

text: In 2014, a feature-length documentary film, "Altman", was released, which looks at his life and work with film clips and interviews.