Cannavaro's talent was quickly spotted by scouts from local club Napoli, who were enjoying the most successful period of their history. The team which included Diego Maradona and Ciro Ferrara had just won the Scudetto. Cannavaro started out as a ball boy at the Stadio San Paolo and his progress was such that he became a member of the first team alongside some of his childhood idols.
Cannavaro's Serie A debut came on 7 March 1993, at Turin’s Stadio Delle Alpi against Juventus. Unfortunately, post-Maradona Napoli were in desperate need of funds and were soon forced to sell Cannavaro to Parma F.C.
At Parma, Cannavaro initially began to win plaudits from a wider audience and establish himself as an extremely talented defender. Together with his defensive partner Lilian Thuram and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Gialloblù became renowned as the team with one of the best defences in Serie A. Under the guidance of coach Carlo Ancelotti, they helped the club to its best ever league finish in 1997, finishing second, a point behind the champions Juventus. In 1998-99, Parma won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia amongst other trophies.
In the summer of 2002, Cannavaro joined Internazionale for a fee of €32 million. After a two year stint at the Nerazzurri, he signed for Juventus. Here he re-joined his ex-Parma partners Lilian Thuram and Gigi Buffon, to reform one of the most successful defensive line-ups in Serie A, and enabling Cannavaro to win his first scudetto with Juventus in 2005 and a second the following season in 2006. Cannavaro won l'Oscar del Calcio 2005, the Football Oscar, for his exceptional debut season at the Turin giants.
After the 2006 World Cup, the Calciopoli trial verdicts relegated Juventus FC to Serie B and stripped the club of its 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 Scudetti. Cannavaro, mindful of his age and the imminent prospect of two years of the club not being able to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, decided to leave La Vecchia Signora. Cannavaro said that "Even if I know this may be hard to believe, I would have stayed at Juventus had they remained in Serie A – even with a 30-point deduction."[3]. He accompanied one of his team mates, Emerson and in doing so re-joined his former Juve coach Fabio Capello at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the home of Real Madrid. Although no fee was confirmed by either club, press speculation has often set the combined transfer's worth at roughly 20 million euros.
On July 25, Fabio Cannavaro officially became a Real Madrid player, with a three year contract and the number 5 jersey, which previously belonged to Manuel Sanchís and Zinedine Zidane. He scored his first goal for the club on August 18, 2006 in a friendly match against Real Betis. On his 33rd birthday, Real Madrid played against Olympique Lyonnais in the Champion League losing 2-0.
Fabio Cannavaro's first taste of international success came over a decade ago under coach Cesare Maldini with Italy's U-21 side, winning consecutive European Under-21 Football Championship titles in 1992-1994 and 1994-1996. In 1996, he participated in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
In the national team, Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta have combined very effectively to form the basis of the Italian central defence. He has played for his country in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 World Cups, as well as Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. Cannavaro made his international debut in January 1997 against Northern Ireland and has since earned 105 caps. Only Paolo Maldini (126 caps) and Dino Zoff (112 caps) have appeared in more games for Italy.
Cannavaro's first international tournament came at 1998 FIFA World Cup under his mentor Paolo Maldini, and the squad was coached by Maldini's father Cesare. Italy went out in the quarter-finals to hosts and eventual champions France; Cannavaro suffered a scar on his forehead from an elbow by Stephane Guivarc'h during the match. The match was decided by a penalty shoot-out after the teams were tied 0-0.
In Euro 2000, it was Les Bleus who once again shattered Italy's dreams. Cannavaro had a strong tournament and the Azzurri reached the final, where they led the then world champions 1-0 going into injury time. Near the end of regular time, Sylvain Wiltord found the equalizer, and an extra-time golden goal from David Trézéguet gave France the title.
At the 2002 FIFA World Cup he was credited with holding the defence together, almost single-handedly after Alessandro Nesta was injured against Croatia. Italy however went out amidst a refereeing controversy losing to co-hosts South Korea in the second round, again to a golden goal.
Cannavaro had a hard act to follow when he took over as captain from Maldini after the 2002 World Cup, but he quickly won the team over with his constant smile, laid-back Neapolitan approach and inspiring performances. After Maldini's international retirement he first captained Italy in a match at Napoli and received a standing ovation on the pitch where he sported the local side's colours between 1991 and 1995.
Euro 2004 which was hosted by Portugal turned out to be a disappointment. Cannavaro picked up yellow cards during the two draws with Denmark (0-0) and Sweden (1-1), forcing him to sit out the final group game. Italy defeated Bulgaria 2-1, but failed to advance on goal difference[6].
Cannavaro's only international goal was scored on May 30, 2004 against Tunisia, Italy won 4-0.
--Wikipedia
ITALY