Fabio Cannavaro nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year
Fabio Cannavaro  (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfaːbjo kannaˈvaːro]; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Serie B club Benevento.
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.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.
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.
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 2021.2006–2009: Real Madrid
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.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".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.Style of play
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.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.FIFA World Cup: 2006IndividualUEFA Under-21 Championship Golden Player: 1996
UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 2000
FICTS Hall of Fame and Excellence Guirlande d'Honneur: 2002
FIFA World Player of the Year: 2006
Ballon d'Or: 2006
2006 FIFA World Cup: Silver Ball
2006 FIFA World Cup: Team of the Tournament
World Soccer Player of the Year: 2006
Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2006
Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year: 2006
Serie A Defender of the Year: 2005, 2006
UEFA Team of the Year: 2006
ESM Team of the Year: 2004–05
FIFPro World XI: 2006, 2007
Sports Illustrated Team of the Decade: 2009
ESPN World Team of the Decade: 2009
Gran Galà del Calcio AIC Lifetime Achievement Award 2011
Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2014
Juventus Greatest XI of All Time: 2017
up for shortlisted for in the running for selected for contending for