Fabio Cannavaro, the former Italy defender who led his country to victory in the 2006 World Cup, has been named as the new manager of Udinese until the conclusion of the current season.
He takes over from Gabriele Cioffi, who was dismissed following a 1-0 loss to Verona. Udinese is currently positioned 17th in Serie A, just above the relegation zone, with the same number of points as Frosinone in 18th place.
Cannavaro has agreed to a contract that will last until the end of June. He will oversee Udinese’s completion of their match against Roma by playing the remaining 18 minutes on Thursday.
The original game was halted with the score tied at 1-1 after Roma’s Evan Ndicka collapsed on the field. Ndicka, a defender from Ivory Coast, was later discharged from the hospital, with Roma clarifying that the 24-year-old had suffered chest pains during the match but did not have a heart attack.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2024/04/22/3953778-80289268-2560-1440.jpg "2006 World Cup champion Fabio Canavaro will become head coach of Udinese until the end of the 2023-2024 season 3")
Cannavaro, a highly regarded center-back in his era, received the Ballon d’Or award in 2006 and played for prestigious clubs such as Parma, Juventus, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid.
After retiring from professional football in 2011, he ventured into coaching in Asia, managing teams in China and Saudi Arabia. In 2019, he briefly led the Chinese national team before taking charge of Benevento.