He retired from international football on 25 June 2010 following Italy's failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup, having amassed 136 caps and 2 goals for the senior national team.

[12] He gained a reputation when, in a training session at Napoli, the young Fabio produced a strong sliding challenge on Maradona, who was then the undisputed star of the club, to dispossess him.

It was also in Parma that he met Gianluigi Buffon and Lilian Thuram, who would not only form one of the tightest defensive units of Europe with Cannavaro but would also become some of his closest friends in football.

[17] At the time, Parma were in financial difficulty, while Inter had just lost a Serie A title in dramatic circumstances to Juventus and were in the process of rebuilding following four barren years and the departure of star striker Ronaldo.

Along with Francesco Coco and his former Parma teammate Hernán Crespo, Cannavaro was supposed to be one of the faces of a new-look Inter led by manager Héctor Cúper.

[9][10][11] Real Madrid paid €7 million to sign Cannavaro,[19] and gave him the number 5 shirt which had previously been worn by French international Zinedine Zidane.

[24] Three years after Cannavaro left Juventus, and following the end of his contract with Real Madrid, in the summer of 2009, he decided to return to the club on a free transfer.

Cannavaro started the new season very well, forming good defensive partnerships with Nicola Legrottaglie, Martín Cáceres, Zdeněk Grygera, Fabio Grosso and most notably Giorgio Chiellini, in front of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

[9][10][11] In March 2010, Cannavaro's relationship with the Juventus supporters, already fragile due to a perceived betrayal of the club when he left for Real Madrid, reached an all-time low.

In a footballers' auction whose line-up included names such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Hernán Crespo and Robbie Fowler, Cannavaro was bought by Siliguri for $830,000, exceeding his "base price" by $50,000.

Cannavaro's first taste of international success came over in the mid-1990s under coach Cesare Maldini with Italy's under-21 side, winning two consecutive UEFA European Under-21 Championship titles, in 1994 and 1996, and developing an important defensive partnership with Alessandro Nesta, which would also continue at senior level.

Nevertheless, in a display ranking alongside those of the very best Italian defenders Claudio Gentile and Franco Baresi, Cannavaro managed to keep Shearer quiet for the whole game.

[9] At Euro 2000, under manager Dino Zoff, Cannavaro had a strong tournament, playing as centre-back alongside either Alessandro Nesta, Mark Iuliano or Paolo Maldini in 3–5–2 formation.

The Italian defence only conceded two goals en route to the final: one against Turkey, and one against Sweden, both in the group stage, keeping three clean sheets in total.

However, Sylvain Wiltord equalised in the final minute of injury time, and an extra-time golden goal from David Trezeguet gave France the title.

[9] At the 2002 World Cup, under manager Giovanni Trapattoni, Cannavaro was credited with holding the defence together almost single-handedly after his usual defensive partner Alessandro Nesta was injured against Croatia.

[32][33] Cannavaro had a difficult act to follow when he took over as captain from Paolo Maldini after the 2002 World Cup, but he quickly won the team over with his leadership, calming influence and inspirational performances, helping Italy qualify for Euro 2004.

He subsequently ran forward to dispossess Lukas Podolski, and carried the ball up to Francesco Totti in midfield, who started the play that led to Italy's second goal, which was scored by Alessandro Del Piero from an assist by Alberto Gilardino.

[44] Even with usual defensive partner Alessandro Nesta out due to injury,[41] the Italian defence kept a record five clean sheets and conceded only two goals throughout the entire tournament: an own-goal against the United States and a Zinedine Zidane penalty in the final against France.

[47][48] Cannavaro also put his plans to retire from the national team after Euro 2008 on hold and added that the injury had made him more determined than ever to captain Italy through the 2010 World Cup.

[9] Cannavaro captained Italy at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, once again under Marcello Lippi, although his performances were not as strong as in previous editions, and he and the Italian squad received criticism from the press.

[9][10][51] In total, Cannavaro made 136 appearances for Italy between 1997 and 2010, scoring 2 goals, making him the second-most capped Italian player of all time, behind only Gianluigi Buffon.

On 5 November 2014, Cannavaro was named as the new head coach of Chinese Super League title-holder and four-time champions Guangzhou Evergrande, replacing his former national team manager Marcello Lippi.

[56] On 4 June 2015, Guangzhou Evergrande suddenly announced Cannavaro was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari after a Super League match against Tianjin Teda.

Although he predominantly excelled as a centre-back, due to his ability to read the game,[82][83][84] he was also deployed as a right or left sided full-back on occasion, in particular under his Inter coach Héctor Cúper.

[13][88][89][90][81] Throughout his career, he made a name for himself as a dynamic, consistent, tenacious and complete defender, known for his acceleration, speed, reactions, and agility, as well as his tackling ability, and in particular, his precise sliding challenges.

[91][92][93][94][95] During his time at Parma under manager Alberto Malesani, he also stood out for his ability to press opposing forwards, which allowed the team to maintain a high three-man defensive line effectively.

In a Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Cannavaro starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scopion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".

Apparently, while awaiting the conclusion of formalities involved for CONI with granting this permission, he was subjected to the drug test that eventually gave a positive result.

[113] In February 2015, Cannavaro, his wife Daniela and his brother Paolo were respectively handed ten-month, four-month and six-month prison sentences for breaching orders and entering Fabio's residence after authorities seized it in 2009 amid an investigation into fraudulent activity and tax evasion.