Grazie Capitano

July 12th, 2011 | by: elaine | Comments Off

I don’t cry at weddings, I don’t cry at sad movies. But if there’s one time I do cry, it’s when a footballer retires. Not only does it mean the end of the life they’ve known for 20-30 years, it means that we won’t get to see them play anymore, either. To be fair, there are occasionally players for which I cheer their retirement announcement, but this weekend, I was all tears. On Saturday, one of my all time favorites, Fabio Cannavaro, announced his retirement from football at the age of 37.

The recipe for Cannavaro’s career included big dreams, hard work, good fortune, several teams, much success, and even a little controversy. Born and raised in Naples, near the Stadio San Paolo, he did well enough in school, but also played street football whenever he could. His father was considered a talented local footballer, and his brother, Paolo is also a center back who plays for Napoli.

From early on, he liked the trophies

His football dreams would be further fueled when he served as a ball boy for Napoli while Diego Maradona played. He entered Napoli’s youth system and eventually was called up for first team duty at the age of 18. Who do you think he was asked to mark? His lifelong idol, Maradona. Chastised by coaches and teammates for tackling his mark too hard, Maradona instead encouraged him and said he felt that he’d seen a “phenomenon” in the young Cannavaro. Maybe he was right.

After two years at Napoli came seven years at Parma, where he won a UEFA Cup, two Coppa Italias and one Super Coppa. This is where he first formed a defensive trio with Lilian Thuram and Gianluigi Buffon. He also played alongside his brother, Paolo from 2000-2002 at Parma. In 2002, he moved to Inter for two years, which left him hungry for success.

He found that success at Juventus, winning back to back Scudetti and renewing that strong defensive partnership with Thuram and Buffon. Following the Calciopoli verdicts, with Juventus being relegated and no longer offering him Champions League football, he followed Coach Fabio Capello to Real Madrid where he played for three years. He won back to back La Liga titles with Real Madrid. For his final appearance there, fans sang chants in Italian, brought banners in Italian, and awarded him with a standing ovation, even though they lost that game 3-1.

Controversially, he went back to Juventus, where he was already unpopular for having “abandoned” the club post-Calciopoli. Between a decline in popularity, injury issues, and a decline in form, he was not offered a renewal on his one-year contract. For the second year running, he approached Napoli, wanting to end his career playing again with his brother in his hometown Napoli blue. However De Laurentiis maintained that he was too old and did not make an offer. So when Cannavaro faced retiring from football or a two year deal from Al Ahli in Dubai, he chose to keep playing. And after one year with the club, it was time to hang up his boots.

He had faced some controversy in his club career. At Parma, in 1999, on the evening of the UEFA Cup final, he was filmed on a Neoton drip, which was a legal substance at the time. However this video damaged public perception of his character and some forever considered him a doper. This image was further tarnished by a failed drug test in 2009 while at Juve. The substance was from a drug given to him due to a severe allergic reaction to a wasp sting, and CONI cleared the whole thing up, but not after the press had permanently sullied his reputation further, even using pictures from the Parma incident 10 years earlier. But I suppose someone in the public eye must face some controversy, and better that they were both incidents that he was proven innocent of.

Cannavaro only stands at 5’9” or 1.77 m, yet one of his strengths was being able to head the ball, even over opponents who were much taller. He attributes this to a natural jumping ability he inherited from his father. Well, that and good timing. He also seemed to have a low center of gravity, which helped him with his phenomenal speed. Combine that speed with the ability to read the game well, and it is no wonder he usually beat his man and made so many clean tackles. In addition to his physical strength, he also had a strong mental strength and focus. And so for all of his success at the club level, these talents and abilities allowed him to really shine at the national team level.

His international career began when he played for Cesare Maldini on the U21 squad, where he won back to back EURO U21 Championships. He had 21 caps for the U21 team between 1993-1996, and he also played for Italy in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. In 1997, he was called up to the Azzurri squad. He played with the likes of Maldini, Costacurta, and Bergomi in the 1998 World Cup, again coached by the elder Maldini. He also played in EURO 2000 partnering not only with Maldini, but also this time with Alessandro Nesta, where he earned a silver medal, as Italy were runners up that year. At the 2002 World Cup, an injury to Nesta early in the tournament saw his role increased, even as Italy were eliminated controversially.

Following 2002, Maldini retired from international football, and Cannavaro was given the captain’s armband. Despite a poor showing at EURO 2004, where he earned a yellow card in each of the first two group matches and thus sat out the 3rd and final group match for Italy, the best was yet to come.

As a leader, I’ve always been impressed with Cannavaro’s ability to lead by example. He didn’t yell at you to work harder, he went out and worked harder and made his teammates want to be better for it. That laid back personality, almost always smiling, was helpful, too. When someone came at him with a rough tackle, and knocked him down, his eyes said “Watch it buddy,” but his smile said “It’s all good,” and he rarely was reduced to anger, though fiercely protective of his teammates. He was great at organizing his fellow defenders, and always seemed to be on good terms with everyone – coaches, teammates, staff, opposition players. He just seemed a natural leader.

So in 2006, when the stars aligned and Italy had a team that was playing well and had a desire to win, it was only natural that he would step up for Italy. In the entire tournament, his team only conceded one goal from the field of play. Personally, Cannavaro did not even get a single card in the tournament, which is very impressive as a defender. He played the games of his career, stopping anything and everything that came his way. His nickname “The Berlin Wall” came from those amazed at how this seemingly little guy could play virtually perfect games defensively and let nothing past him. And so, it was only fitting that he would be the one to lift the trophy for his team when they won the World Cup, on the eve that also marked his 100th cap for his country. Perfection.

If only someone could have their stars align more than once, but it was not to be. At EURO 2008, an ankle ligament injury sustained in the first training session left him on crutches on the sidelines to cheer his teammates on, but with little success. The 2009 Confederations was not a great showing for Italy, either. It was shortly after this, however, that Cannavaro beat Maldini’s record for most capped player for Italy. Cannavaro retired with an impressive 136 caps.

I do not have to tell you that if 2006 was the pinnacle of Cannavaro’s career, the World Cup 2010 was basically the opposite. Age catches you that way sometimes. But I was still impressed with his leadership skills, he will be missed. When Quagliarella lost it on the field, it was his Captain pulling him up and trying to get him to stay proud, at least in public.

And after consoling his teammate and trying to hold his head high on the pitch, the captain broke down away from the crowds. This picture for me sums up the pain and disappointment of a footballer who gave it everything, but it just wasn’t enough:

But I cannot leave you on this sad note. His individual honors are many, but I will try to name a few. He was the only defender to ever earn the FIFA World Player of the Year award, and only the third defender to ever win the Ballon d’Or, which he also won in 2006. Ironically, one of those defenders was Franz Beckenbauer, who helped present the World Cup medals in 2006. For the World Cup proper, he won the Silver Ball Award in a close race.

In addition to being named to many all star teams over the years, he was Serie A Footballer of the year 2006, Italian Footballer of the Year 2006, and Serie A Defender of the year in 2005 and 2006. Well, and if you Google images of Fabio, you will see why he was also voted both Italy’s Sexiest Footballer and Sexiest Footballer of the World Cup by women everywhere. So even non-football fans are devastated by his retirement.

Looking forward, he has already started a foundation along with fellow Neapolitan Ciro Ferrara, which seeks to provide cancer research, equipment, and funding for surgeries to people of Naples called the Fondazione Cannavaro Ferrara. Additionally, he has expressed an interest in continuing on in the world of football, which is at least a small consolation. From his humble beginning in Naples, he has always had his eye on football, and regardless of anything people might say, football, especially the Azzurri, are so much better for his passion and gifts to the game. So I leave you with one of his parting statements and say Grazie, Capitano. It will be hard to find another like you.

“Football is my life and therefore I’m very sorry but my knee can’t hold up anymore and I announce my retirement. I’m sad but surely can’t complain. From this sport, I had everything. Al-Ahli offered me a contract for three years as a director and I have accepted.”

–Fabio Cannavaro, 5 years to the day  after lifting the 2006 World Cup

Elaine is randomly on Twitter • follow her occasional tweets @ItaliaWCB