Fabio Cannavaro Biography
Fabio Cannavaro was born on 13 September 1973 in Naples, Italy.
Personal Life
Fabio Cannavaro married Daniela Arenoso on 17 June 1996.
They have three children: Christian (born in 1998) – currently a footballer playing as a midfielder for Benevento in Serie A, Martina (born in 2001), and Andrea (born in 2004).
Fabio Cannavaro spent most of his career as a central defender in the Italian Serie A. He started his career at Napoli, winning two Italian cups (the 1999 Italian Super Cup and the 1999 UEFA Cup) with the team. After playing for Inter Milan and Juventus, Cannavaro (along with manager Fabio Capello) moved to Real Madrid in 2006. Cannavaro won two consecutive La Liga titles with Real Madrid in 2007 and 2008. In the 2009-2010 season, after returning to Juventus, he joined Al-Ahli in Dubai. Cannavaro ended his playing career in 2011 due to an injury. He is considered one of the greatest defenders of all time.
Cannavaro was part of the Italian team that won consecutive European Championships in 1994 and 1996 for players under 21. In 1997, he was called up to the senior national team and later became the team's captain after Paolo Maldini's retirement in 2002. Cannavaro led Italy to victory in the 2006 World Cup in Germany and was nicknamed "Il Muro di Berlino" ("The Berlin Wall") by Italian fans for his defensive performances. He was awarded the Silver Ball as the second-best player in the tournament. In 2009, Cannavaro became Italy's most capped player, overtaking Maldini. He ended his international career on 25 June 2010, after Italy failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup, with 136 caps and 2 goals. Overall, Cannavaro played for Italy in four World Cups, two European Championships, the 1996 Summer Olympics, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Currently, he is Italy's second-most capped player of all time, after Gianluigi Buffon, and the country's most capped defender.
Career in Uzbekistan: In October 2025, he was appointed as the head coach of the Uzbekistan national team
Parma
Italian Cup: 1998-99, 2001-02
Italian Super Cup: 1999
UEFA Cup: 1998-99
Juventus
Serie A: 2004-05, 2005-06 (both revoked due to the Calciopoli scandal)
Real Madrid
La Liga: 2006-07, 2007-08
Spanish Super Cup: 2008
Italy U-21
UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 1994, 1996
Italy
FIFA World Cup: 2006
UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2000
Individual
UEFA European Under-21 Championship Golden Player: 1996
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
FICTS Hall of Fame and Excellence Guirlande d’Honneur: 2002
Serie A Defender of the Year: 2005, 2006
ESM Team of the Year: 2004-05
FIFA World Player of the Year: 2006
Ballon d'Or: 2006
FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 2006
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2006
UEFA Team of the Year: 2006
FIFPro World XI: 2006
Gran Galà del Calcio AIC Lifetime Achievement Award: 2011
Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2014
Juventus Greatest Eleven of All Time: 2017
Juventus FC Hall of Fame: 2025
Managerial Career
Tianjin Quanjian
China League One: 2016
Guangzhou Evergrande
Chinese Super League: 2019
Chinese FA Super Cup: 2018
Individual
Chinese Football Association Manager of the Year: 2017