Sports The Star: Paolo Cannavaro

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Paolo Cannavaro

Paolo Cannavaro (born 26 June 1981) is an Italian football defender who currently plays for Serie A club Napoli. He is the younger brother of Fabio Cannavaro.Cannavaro made his professional debut for his hometown side Napoli during the 1998–99 season in Serie A, while he was 17 years old.The following season he was signed by Parma, playing alongside his older brother Fabio Cannavaro in his first season at the club. In fact Paolo's debut for Parma came when he replaced his brother as a substitute in Parma's 4–1 victory against Lecce.Verona took the player on loan during the 2001–02 season, Cannavaro turned out 25 times for the club, scoring his first professional goal. The successive year he returned to Parma where he spent much of the time as a substitute for the following two seasons (2002–2003, 2003–2004). During the 2004–2005 season, Cannavaro became more active in the first team at Parma, making 24 appearances scoring 4 goals from defence.As Napoli were promoted back into Serie B, and were building a squad with potential, Cannavaro was brought back to his first club, where he currently remains.
As a youngster, Cannavaro played for Italy under-21 national football team. He has since followed in the steps of his brother by earning a call up for the Italian national senior team on October 13, 2007 against South Africa.