Born in Montevideo, Canavery was a notable figure of Argentine sport during the 1910 and 1920 decades, playing in four of the "big five" of Argentina, such as Independiente, River Plate, Racing and Boca Juniors.

The Red Devils (Diablos Rojos in the original language) nickname was given to Independiente by a journalist who highlighted the skills and effectiveness team's attacking line formed by Canavery, Alberto Lalín, Luis Ravaschino, Manuel Seoane and Raimundo Orsi.

[1] He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, the son of Valerio Canavery and Tomasa Tones, belonging to a middle class family.

[2] His mother, born in Bilbao, belonged to a family of immigrants of French Basque origin, established towards the end of the 19th century in Avellaneda.

[4] He was cousin of Pedro Canaveri, a politician belonging to the Radical Party, who served as president of Club Independiente and Argentine Football Association.

Independiente line-up was W.Peterson; J. Idiarte, L. Calneggia; M. Deluchi, E. Sande; A. Lanatta; Z. Canavery, B. Lloveras, J. Rodríguez, E. Colla, F. Roldán.

On September 3, 1914, Canavery played an international club match against the Piedmontese team Torino, that was won by Racing by 1–0 with goal of Alberto Ohaco.

[21] Towards the end of his career, Zoilo Canavery scored a penalty goal against Chacarita Juniors, in a match played at Independiente Stadium on March 10, 1929.

For the year of 1912, Canavery had integrated an Argentine team with figures of the official league and dissident, in a game to benefit the club Atlanta.

[24] Zoilo Canavery was also part of the Argentine team that thrashed Uruguay by 7–2 in the "Copa Círculo de La Prensa" first match.

[26] That same year Canavery played another international match with Independiente v. English Chelsea F.C., team that was touring on South America.

[27] Zoilo Canavery played in the first team of the Independent Club until 1930, the year in which he decided to retire definitively to begin his activity as a sports coach.

[28] The match was played November 20, 1932 in Gasómetro de Avenida La Plata won by River 3–0 with goals from Bernabé Ferreyra, Carlos Peucelle and Ricardo Zatelli.