In Defence of Fabio Cannavaro

By: Daryl | May 19th, 2009

Most fans would be pretty damn happy if Fabio Cannavaro signed for their team. The 35 year old defender may not be quite the same one man tackling machine that he was in 2006, but he’s not exactly Titus Bramble either. In many ways he’s exactly the sort of player that Juventus need if they’re going to challenge Inter and Milan next season, especially as his signing will reunite Canna with his international defensive partner Giorgio Chiellini. And yet…

… Cannavaro’s return to the bianconeri on a one year contract has so far received a massive thumbs down from Juventus fans.

For those with short memories, Cannavaro was one of the Juve players who jumped ship when Juve were forcibly relegated to Serie B after their managing director Luciano Moggi was found guilty of match fixing in the Calciopoli scandal. Juve fans have never forgiven him.

He wasn’t the only one to leave in the summer of 2006 though. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira went to Inter, Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram went to Barcelona, while Emerson joined Cannavaro at Real Madrid – and that’s just the most high profile departures.

True, some big names did stick around for the Serie B battle. Pavel Nedved, David Trezeguet, Mauro Camoranesi, Gigi Buffon and Alex Del Piero all deserve credit for their loyalty. But that doesn’t mean the players who left are all traitors.

Cannavaro spent just two seasons at Juve (2004/5 and 2005/6). Arguably the two best seasons of his career, in which he won two Serie A titles. Or so he thought. Juventus (and therefore the players) were stripped of those two titles, meaning the two years Cannavaro spent at Juve were (sort of) taken from him.

I understand why Juve fans were angry at him for leaving, but from an outsiders perspective I can certainly appreciate why the then best defender in the world didn’t want to play in Serie B for a club who were at that time disgraced. In many ways Cannavaro’s return is proof that Juve have put those dark days behind them and re-established the club’s reputation.

Here’s what the man himself had to say when asked about the fans’ negative reaction:

“I am sure I will be able to convince even the most skeptical fans thanks to my hard work, professionalism and passion with which I will approach this new adventure.”

Who knoes? Maybe a Cannavaro determined to prove himself and win over angry Juve fans might be a Cannavaro capable of reproducing some of that 2006 form…