A warm heart and a cold head must be the innate characteristics of any true leader. Fabio Cannavaro possesses both. A Neapolitan boy and Diego Maradona fanatic, his fantastic football journey brought him titles in Italy and Spain, and saw him adorn iconic shirts of clubs such as Parma, Inter, Juventus and Real Madrid.
But it was with the Azzurri that Fabio Cannavaro made his masterpiece. He earned an incredible 136 caps for Italy, inherited the captaincy from the legendary Paolo Maldini, won two Under-21 European titles and, of course, lifted that 6kg lump of gold up to the Berlin sky on a memorable July night at the 2006 World Cup.
It was an unexpected title, in the aftermath of the Calciopoli scandal – an earthquake that shook Italian football and his club, Juventus, who were relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history. Yet nothing could undermine Cannavaro’s focus that summer. He kept the rudder straight, steered his country to the title and won the Ballon d’Or as a result, as only the fourth – and last – defensive player to win the accolade in its long history.
After retiring in Dubai in 2011, Cannavaro became a manager and gained diverse experience in Italy, Saudi Arabia and China, where he won league and cup titles with Guangzhou. Now the 49-year-old sits down with FourFourTwo to tackle your questions...
Who was your inspiration?
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