"As a coach, it is completely different," Fabio Cannavaro said. "Because as a football player, you have one goal, and as a coach, I have so many things to do and think about." That's an understatement. Twenty years after lifting the trophy in Berlin, Cannavaro is back at a World Cup — managing a country most casual fans couldn't place on a map.
Uzbekistan. First World Cup in the nation's history. James Rodríguez and Luis Díaz waiting in the group stage. Not quite the same as marshalling Italy's backline.
A complicated inheritance
The backstory here matters. Uzbekistan qualified under Timur Kapadze in June 2025 — a genuine achievement for a coach who made 119 appearances for the country as a player and knows this football culture from the inside out. Four months later, the federation replaced him with Cannavaro, keeping Kapadze on as assistant. Within weeks, Kapadze resigned.
That's a messy foundation for a World Cup debut. Cannavaro is walking into a dressing room that watched its actual architect get pushed aside, and now faces Colombia and Portugal in the group stage. The opening match odds for Uzbekistan won't make comfortable reading — Colombia arrive with one of the most dangerous attacking units in the tournament, and Díaz in particular is the kind of player who punishes any defensive hesitation.
Cannavaro knows it. "I told the players to enjoy it because they have nothing to lose," he said. Which is the right message, but also the only realistic one available to him.
What Cannavaro brings — and what he doesn't
His playing credentials are beyond question. Four World Cups, the 2006 Ballon d'Or, a career built on reading the game at its highest level. Whether that translates into effective management is a different question. His club record in China and with Benevento and Udinese in Serie A was underwhelming — he never kept a job long enough to build anything.
Now he has inherited a squad mid-cycle, weeks before their biggest match ever, in a tournament where the opposition includes Rodríguez running Colombia's entire attacking structure. Uzbekistan's defensive shape and their ability to absorb pressure will decide their fate far more than any tactical master plan.
"We are going to face Colombia, and we are going to face Portugal," Cannavaro said. "So I told the players to enjoy it." The group stage exit looks near-certain on paper. The real question is whether Uzbekistan can make anyone uncomfortable before it's over.
