News Center

UFL Chats to Italian Legend Fabio Cannavaro

 

I will continue my career as a football player here next season

2006 FIFA World Player of the Year and Italian World Cup Team Captain, Fabio Cannavaro, reaffirmed his desire to continue playing in the UFL next season in an exclusive sit-down with the UFL last week.

Whilst the initial announcement of his signing by Al Ahli at the start of the 2010/2011 season surprised many, Cannavaro says he is enjoying the experience and is firmly committed to fulfilling his two-year contract with the Club.

 "I decided to play outside Italy as my last season with Juventus was not good. I received many offers from England, USA, Italy as well as Al Ahli from the UAE. I decided to accept the Al Ahli Club offer as I wanted to play in a new league in a new country where I would be playing for the first time. Furthermore, football can be developed in this country, and I would like to contribute to this development by offering my experiences to Al Ahli players and the UAE Football community in general," Cannavaro said.

"My ambition with Al Ahli is to be an example for the local players. They must learn that professionalism is the path to success. I keep training during the holidays at the age of 37 in order to draw the young players' attention to the importance of practice and training. Al Ahli is an ambitious club and they are going in the right direction."

And what of Al Ahli's chances to win the Etisalat Pro-League title next season?

"I hope that we win the Etisalat Pro-League next season, but all of us, including the players, administrative and medical staff, management and fans, have to work together to achieve this goal," he said.

Commenting on the season just gone, his first in the League, Cannavaro said the team went through some difficult circumstances which affected their performance in general, such as the absence and injury of key players, as well as the change of coach with David O'Leary's departure.

Recent reports in the media have claimed that Cannavaro was set to announce his retirement and take on a role as technical adviser to Al Ahli's Chairman. Cannavaro strongly denies this, confirming that he will definitely be strapping on his boats for the 2011/2012 season.

"It may be a possibility in the future, but I am still a player and I want to wear the club's logo until the end of my contract. Besides, I have not yet decided when I will retire."

I want to contribute to the development of football in the UAE

Whilst Cannavaro has enjoyed his first season in the UFL, he does recognise that there are some issues affecting the development of UAE Football.

"I think a major problem lies in the weather, as the season started in hot weather and ended in hot weather. In the last two weeks of the season we played five games with an average of one game every three days, which had a negative impact on the players' performance on the pitch."

"The long breaks in the League's schedule is also an obstacle as it affects players' fitness, both physically and mentally, therefore the technical level of the teams are also affected," added Cannavaro.

Acknowledging that the stops in the League this past season were largely due to National Team requirements, Cannavaro pointed out that in other countries all over the World, the National Team's preparation does not exceed one week. Furthermore, he believes that given the players are playing at the professional level they should be ready and fit to participate at the national level.

"I played for 15 years with the Italian National Team, during which time the players were never been asked to join more than 5 days before their match. As a result the normal League season was able to continue without any major breaks, which is not the case in the UAE."

Another pertinent issue affecting the League according to Cannavaro is the continual hiring and firing of coaches. This season only Al Jazira and Al Shabab's coaches remained through to the end of the season, whilst the other 10 clubs dismissed their coaches at various points for underperforming.

"Changing coaches is not a good idea and UAE football suffers every season from this issue. Change does not mean you will win with new coach and achieve victories, but rather it causes instability in the team as the new coach needs some time for the players to adapt his new plans which are always different than the previous coach," said the former Italian Team captain.

"I hope that this phenomenon disappears in order that the teams can have the technical stability to continue to develop their game."

Developing the youth is key

During the interview Cannavaro makes his opinion on the importance of youth development obvious and makes a plea to UAE Clubs to have more consideration of youth football, by investing money and resources into their development.

"There is a lack of modern scientific methods in youth development within the UAE and the clubs also need to have expert coaches for the youth as the young players must learn the correct methods and the basic skills of football before joining the first team."

International stars can help the League

When asked about Al Wasl's new coach Maradona, Cannavaro explains he played with Maradona in Napoli Club and doesn't hold back in his description of the Argentinean's playing abilities.

"Maradona is the best player in the Wold. He is the player of the century and has excellent technical skills, which will have a good impact on Al Wasl team and UAE Football in general."

Cannavaro believes that signing contracts with international stars serves the development of UAE football. He points to Al Nasr Club's signing of Walter Zinga, the ex-goal keeper of the Italian National Team and one of the most famous goalies in the world, who has achieved good results and led Al Nasr to 3rd position in the League and a place in the Asian Champions League next year.

As far as the 2010/2011 Etisalat Pro-League champions Al Jazira go, the Al Ahli Captain believes Al Jazira were deserved winners as they were the best team all season.

"They played well in all of their matches and the team has very strong players in all positions as well as a good coach who lead them to victory in the Pro-League and the President's Cup."

He goes on to express his admiration for Al Jazira midfield player, Ibrahima Diakey as well as Al Ahli's Ahmad Khalil, who he believes is one of the county's most talented young players who could play at the European level.

I support an increase in the number of teams in the League

Cannavaro is in support of the proposed increase in the number of teams in the Etisalat Pro-League as well as the increase of the number of foreign players to 4 as he believes it will aid the development of UAE football.

"Increasing the number of clubs from 12 to 14 is good for the development of the clubs and the players; by playing more games, the players' performances improve which will have a positive influence on the team. In addition, the increase in the number of foreign players to four will also raise the level of the local players, especially the youth who will learn from the international professionals. It's also a positive aspect for the teams participating in the AFC Champions League," said Cannavaro.

Ronaldo is the most difficult striker I've ever faced

Looking further afield at his beloved Italian national side, Cannavaro said it was disappointing that the team couldn't achieve the same level of success in the 2010 World Cup as they did in 2006, however they faced problems with the goalkeeper and their defense as many of their experienced players had retired. He explained that the team is going through a period of renovation and the players need more experience against the international teams in Europe and South America to achieve future titles.

When asked about the game's best players Cannavaro didn't hesitate to nominate Brazilian striker Ronaldo as the most difficult striker he ever faced throughout his career in football.

"Even if you are not 100% fit and ready you can usually control the strikers, but Ronaldo is an exception! You must be more than 100% to be able to monitor and paralyze his movements, but you cannot always do that even If you are 300% fit and ready. He is a great striker - when he receives the ball in the box, you cannot know what he will do and then suddenly you see the ball in the net. He is an amazing player," said Cannavaro.

I am still a player but coaching may lay in my future

When questioned about the possibility of leading Al Ahli as coach whilst remaining a player, as happens in some European clubs, Cannavaro affirms that he currently sees himself as a player only and that's his focus.

"May be after retiring I will become a coach as I have good experience in coaching as I was trained under very famous coaches in the Italian National Team, Read Madrid, Juventus, Internazionale and Parma. It won't be difficult for me to lead Al Ahli."

As the interview comes to a close, Cannavaro makes a poignant confession regarding the smile with which he has become synonymous.

"It is because football is a beautiful game. I deal in the field with a sporting spirit, for that reason, I'm always smiling even in the toughest situations."

 "The kids watch the games and we should not show them that we are playing football with frowns on our faces. I hope that all players deal with football as a beautiful game and seek to consolidate the spirit of sportsmanship in the hearts of the young to let them admire this sport," he concludes.

Profile:

Name: Fabio Cannavaro

Nationality: Italian

Age: 37

Current Club: Al Ahli, Dubai

Playing Position: Defender

N: 23

Senior career

1992-1995 Napoli           

1995-2002 Parma           

2002-2004 Internazionale        

2004-2006 Juventus      

2006-2009 Real Madrid            

2009-2010 Juventus      

2010-         Al-Ahli           

He has won many league titles as well as Cup and European championships.

The pinnacle of his career was undoubtedly the 2006 FIFA World Cup when he captained the Italian National Team to victory.

Cannavaro is married with two sons (Christian and Andrea) and one daughter (Martina).