* Born September 13, 1973.

* Captained Italy to 2006 World Cup triumph and widely regarded as one of the tournament's outstanding players with his inspirational performances at the heart of the back four.

* Named European Footballer of the Year in November by France Football magazine. He is one of a select band of defenders to have won the Ballon D'Or, the last one being Germany's Matthias Sammer in 1996.

* Made his debut for Italy in 1997 and soon became a fixture in the team.

* Won his 100th cap in the penalty shootout win over France in the 2006 World Cup final, effectively cancelling out the opposition attack with another masterful display.

* Part of the Italy side that finished runners-up in Euro 2000 and captain when they made a disappointing exit at the group stage of Euro 2004.

* Won consecutive championships with Juventus but the club were stripped of the titles this year as part of the punishment for their involvement in an Italian match-fixing scandal.

* Moved to Real Madrid in July together with Juventus team mate Emerson for a combined fee of around 20 million euros ($26.27 million).

* Cannavaro began his career at hometown club Napoli.

* Moved to Parma in 1995 and won the Italian Cup and UEFA Cup with the club in 1999.

* Also played for Inter Milan between 2002 and 2004.

* Controversially shown inserting a drip into his arm on the eve of the 3-0 victory over Olympique Marseille in the 1999 UEFA Cup final. His lawyer confirmed the drip contained Neoton, a drug used in cardiac surgery to protect the heart and not on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.