Â鶹APP

Fabio Cannavaro in Moscow in December 2017 at the draw for the 2018 World Cup. Photo By Дмитрий –

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Fabio Cannavaro   

Fabio Cannavaro is an Italian retired professional football player. He is regarded as one of the best defenders of all time. This footballer was named the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year, making him the only defender in history to have won that award. 

Cannavaro is the second most-capped Italian footballer after Gianluigi Buffon with 136 caps. He is the current head coach of Serie B club, Benevento.   

Here are the top 10 intriguing facts about Fabio Cannavaro. 

1. Fabio Started as a Ball Boy  

Fabio Cannavaro was born on 13th September 1973 in Naples, Italy. He is the second-born son of Gelsomina Costanzo and Pasquale Cannavaro. His father was a banker who also played professional football. He has an elder sister, Renata, and a younger brother Paolo, who is also a professional football player.  

Fabio started by playing for a team from Bagnoli. While there, he was spotted by Napoli scouts and enrolled in the Napoli youth football academy when he was 11 years old. He initially served as the club’s ball boy and would watch his idols Diego Maradona and Ciro Ferrara play. He then joined the Napoli junior team until he was 20 years.  

At first, he was playing as a midfielder like another of his idols Marco Tardelli, before the team’s youth coach switched him to the role of center-back. Afterward, he played for the Napoli first team from 1992 and served them for 3 years until 1995 when he joined Parma.  

2. He Was Gifted Boots By Diego Maradona 

Fabio Cannavaro. Photo By Tasnim – Wikimedia Commons

Fabio got attention in one training session at Napoli when he staged a strong sliding challenge on Maradona to dispossess him. At the time, Maradona was the undisputed star of the club so their teammates were not very impressed by the young player.

However, Maradona defended the promising player and encouraged him to play the best way he knew how. He congratulated Fabio by giving him his boots as a souvenir at the end of the training session. You can read about Diego Maradona and other great players here.

Fabio enjoyed what he did and so he became very good very fast. As a center-back alongside Ferrara, he demonstrated his anticipation, tackling, distribution, and ability to start attacking plays after winning possession. His debut in Serie A was on 7th March 1993, in Turin, in a 4–3 defeat to Juventus but this didn’t kill his ambition. 

By the time Fabio was leaving the club, he had a total of 60 appearances with the club, having scored one goal. His first career goal was on 8th January 1995 at the San Siro, against Milan. 

3. Fabio’s Son Plays Professional Football Too 

After dating for two years, Fabio married Daniela Arenoso, who is one year younger than him, on 17th June 1996.  The couple has three children, two sons and one daughter, Christian, Martina, and Andrea. Like his grandfather, father, and Uncle, Fabio’s son Christian plays football professionally. He is a midfielder for Serie A side Benevento.  

4. Unlike Other Footballers, Fabio Is Not Very Tall 

Fabio Cannavaro (far left, in white) with Real Madrid against Barcelona. Photo By Alejandro Ramos –

His time at Parma between 1995-2002 cemented his reputation as a brilliant, though relatively unconventional defender. At his peak, he was the best central defender and had the most prodigious leap. At just 5 foot 9 inches tall, Fabio wasn’t built to be the world’s greatest center-back, but he would out-jump taller strikers effortlessly. 

While bigger men used their strength, Fabio used his brain. He was a brilliant reader of the game, always anticipating passes and even saw a move before the man playing it even did. No wonder he was named the world’s best player.   

5. He Played For Six Clubs In His Career 

This top Italian defender served in six clubs during his career which lasted for 19 years from 1992 to 2011. Fabio started at Napoli where he spent 9 years playing for the club’s youth team before he was promoted to Napoli’s senior team and played another 3 years for them.  

The team sold him to Parma who sold him to Inter Milan. He was later sold to Juventus, then Real Madrid, and back to Juventus. The last team he played for was Al-Ahli of Egypt. 

6. Fabio Was The Captain When Italy Won The 2006 World Cup 

Always a strong performer, his international career peaked under Marcello Lippi in 2006 when he captained them to an epic World Cup win. They conceded just twice in the whole tournament, where the first was an own-goal against the United States and the second a Zinedine Zidane penalty in the final against France.  

It was the golden career moment for him and the most significant year of his career, having been named Best Italian Player and Best Defender by the Italian Footballers Association. Fabio went on to become the first defender in the 16-year history of the award to be named World Player of the Year by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).  

In 2006 he was named European Footballer of the Year—the first Italian so honored since 1993 and the third defender ever to claim that distinction. 

7. He Got A Serious Knee Injury 

Fabio Cannavaro. Photo By Snake90 –

On 2nd June 2008, Fabio 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. It turns out, he had torn ligaments in his left ankle. 

Fabio Cannavaro retired from international football in the 2010 World Cup after Italy could not advance from the group stage. He was forced to retire as a player on doctor’s advice at the age of 37 because of a persistent knee injury.  

8. He Has A Pending Ten Months Jail Time 

In 2015 a naughty Fabio, his wife, and brother were given 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. 

He was being investigated for fraudulent activity and tax evasion. The three appealed and had their sentences suspended until the final judgment was made. 

9. Fabio Failed A Drugs Test 

Fabio was injected with a substance the night before the 1999 UEFA Cup Final. The substance was found to be neoton (phosphocreatine), a drug used in cardiac surgery to protect the heart during periods of anoxia and stress. It is not on the banned substance list and so no action was taken against him. 

Ten years later in 2009, he failed a drug test but it turns out he had been treated for a severe allergic reaction to a wasp sting. Since it had been an emergency, he had not asked for permission from The Italian National Olympic Committee as is the norm. The charges were dropped because the drugs were not performance-enhancing. 

10. He Became A Coach And Was Inducted Into The Hall Of Fame

Fabio Cannavaro in Moscow in December 2017 at the draw for the 2018 World Cup. Photo By Дмитрий –

After retirement, he was hired as a technical advisor and coach. As a player, he earned many awards and honors. As a coach, he has worked with different teams and won awards. In 2017, he was the Chinese Football Association Coach of the Year. Fabio was sponsored by Nike, the sportswear company, and appeared in many Nike commercials. 

Fabio was also inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2014 and was named one of the Juventus Greatest 11 of All Time in 2017. 

You can read fascinating facts about Ronaldinho or footballer Andrea Pirlo here.