Paolo Cannavaro, Italian footballer

Paolo Cannavaro (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːolo kannaˈvaːro]; born 26 June 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. After beginning his career with Napoli, he moved to Parma in 1999, where he played alongside his older brother Fabio. Paolo remained with the club for seven seasons, aside from a loan spell with Verona during the 2001–02 season, helping the club reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2005. In 2006, he returned to Napoli, where he was eventually named the club's captain and contributed to the club's resurgence: he helped the team to earn promotion to Serie A in his first season and subsequently aided his side to qualify for the UEFA Cup in 2008, earn a spot in the Champions League in 2011 and win the Coppa Italia in 2012, the club's first title in over 20 years. After eight seasons with Napoli, he moved to Sassuolo in 2014, where he remained until his retirement in 2017. Following the conclusion of his professional football career, he joined his brother at Guangzhou Evergrande as a member of the team's coaching staff.