Frederick Jace
Usually, central defenders are characterized by being tall and having powerful stature, but the relatively few 176 centimeters didn’t prevent Fabio Cannavaro from being considered to be one of the best players in this position for almost ten years. It is unknown what for fans of football today scores of modern stars will seem more significant and convincing, but the Italian wasn’t called the Berlin Wall for nothing since at one time he was an unbreakable element of the defense.
Moreover, he performed equally confidently at both club and international levels. He played for the Italian national team at his usual position, building an unsurpassed duo of central defenders together with Nesta, on which the whole team relied. As for his performance at clubs, Fabio played the majority of his games for Parma in Serie A. For a long time, accompanied by Tyuram and Buffon, but both of them eventually moved to other clubs, while Cannavaro stayed in the Crusaders’ squad for as many as 7 years. It should be mentioned that this club is still noticeable in today football scores report, but it can no longer boast of the results shown at the end of the 20th century.
Cannavaro and the national team
The player’s steady progress naturally attracted the attention of the Italian national team’s coaches. Starting from 1993, Cannavaro’s Serie A matches were accompanied by constant invitations to the main team of the country, where he achieved significant success, namely:
- Twice became European champion in the U-21 age group (1994 and 1996).
- Received the Vice-champion of Europe title (in 2000).
- Got the World Cup trophy (2006).
It should be mentioned that 2006 was the most successful year in the Italian’s career. Besides his triumph at the World Cup and successful performance in Serie A, where he played a large number of matches, he was awarded a few personal titles.
- The Golden Ball.
- The title of the best football player of the planet (by FIFA).
- The title of the best football player in the world (according to World Soccer).
- The Silver Ball (awarded to the second-best football player of the World Cup).
- The football player of the year in Italy.
He was also included to all the possible symbolic teams of that year, as well as received a number of less prestigious prizes and awards. Then followed the drop Juventus, where Cannavaro was playing at that time, to Serie B and the player’s transfer to Spanish Real Madrid and much more. Nowadays, the former defender is a coach, believing it to be a logical development of his successful career as a player.
