Italy World Cup-winner Fabio Cannavaro believes head coach Cesare Prandelli will be key if the Azzurri are to repeat his legendary exploits this summer.
Cannavaro, 40, wrote his name in the tournament’s history books in 2006 when he captained his nation to a surprise victory in Germany.
The Al Ahli assistant coach perfectly understands the value of strong leadership, and is confident 56-year-old Prandelli has the nous to succeed in Brazil.
“The key is the coach, the coach makes all that happen,” Cannavaro said. “Prandelli has experience and is a good coach, at the moment he is one of the best coaches we have in Italy.”
The Azzurri come into this summer’s competition with a shot at the title, despite failing to win any of their past seven international games.
Much of this belief comes from the achievements in Prandelli’s reign, after taking over following a disastrous defence of their World Cup crown four years ago.
Italy exceeded expectations by falling to Spain in the final of Euro 2012, pushed the same opponents all the way in last year’s Confederations Cup semi-final and breezed through 2014 World Cup qualification.
In total Prandelli has lost just two competitive matches – qualifiers and tournament games – in his four years in charge.
Cannavaro believed these achievements will be invaluable in the coming weeks.
“Getting to the Euro 2012 final is great preparation," explained Cannavaro. "I did the same in Euro 2000 and it was really important to get that confidence. When I won the World Cup in 2006, we had a very experienced team with excellent players and one of the best coaches in history in Marcelo Lippi, so the mix was nice.
“In South Africa four years later, we had a good team and we had a mix of experienced players and young players – we had a chance but it was tough and we had a poor tournament. No matter the squad, anything can happen.”
Cannavaro enjoyed an exemplary career, winning 136 caps for his country before ending with Al Ahli following spells in Europe with heavyweight clubs such as Internazionale, Juventus and Real Madrid.
Understandably, he admits he frequently finds himself daydreaming about the dramatic victory against France eight years ago.
“Of course, a day doesn’t go past without my mind wandering to the 2006 World Cup and that penalty shootout in the final against France. Every time I watch the final penalty, I’m still scared Fabio Grosso is going to miss. I still get scared, it’s amazing," he adds.
“When you win a World Cup, you become a legend and people react to you differently and your life changes. Now I’ll be taking my kids to the World Cup instead of playing.”
Italy begin their quest to repeat Cannavaro’s exploits on Saturday, when they travel to Manaus for the Group D opener against England.
