THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRETORIA, South Africa — Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro matched Paolo Maldini’s record for most national team appearances with his 126th cap Sunday against Brazil at the Confederations Cup.
“It’s very gratifying to still be a part of this squad,” the 35-year-old defender said earlier this week. “It’s always different wearing Italy’s jersey, and matching someone like Paolo is really an honour.”
Cannavaro made his Italy debut more than 12 years ago against Northern Ireland. He took over as Italy’s captain when Maldini retired from the national team after the 2002 World Cup.
The high point of Cannavaro’s career came during Italy’s run to the 2006 World Cup title. The Naples native played superbly in all seven matches in Germany and won the FIFA World Player of the Year and Golden Ball awards that year for his efforts.
“It’s tough — maybe impossible — to get back to that level,” Cannavaro said. “I played at an unbelievable level for seven games. It was really incredible.”
Known for his superb tackles and ability on headers — despite his diminutive size of five foot nine — Cannavaro was a starter at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, as well as the 2000 and 2004 European Championships.
At Euro 2008, he injured his ankle during Italy’s first training session in Austria and missed the entire tournament. Cannavaro also missed the opening game of this year’s Confederations Cup due to a right calf injury, then remained in South Africa despite the death of his grandfather.
Cannavaro followed a long tradition of great Italian defenders, such as Franco Baresi, Giuseppe Bergomi, Maldini and Alessandro Nesta. While 24-year-old Giorgio Chiellini is developing into a reliable starter alongside Cannavaro, the pool of prospects at the position is thinning.
“Italy has had great defenders and goalkeepers for the last 20 years, whereas now we have more midfielders and forwards, but I’m sure that in five or six years defending will be back in style,” Cannavaro said.
Cannavaro’s club career has paled in comparison to his international exploits.
After establishing himself with Parma, he struggled during a two-year stint with Inter Milan, then had the two Serie A titles he won with Juventus revoked during the Italian match-fixing scandal — which immediately preceded Italy’s World Cup victory.
Cannavaro followed coach Fabio Capello from Juventus to Real Madrid after the scandal. While he contributed to Madrid’s Spanish league titles in 2007 and 2008, Cannavaro was often criticized in Spain for not performing up to his potential.
When his contract expired after last season, Cannavaro signed with Juventus again despite the Turin club’s fans protesting that he was “a traitor” — an incident Cannavaro addressed recently.
“We need to start re-educating people and teach sporting culture,” he said. “Italy is a great country, one of the most beautiful in the world, but I’ve always gone my own way.”