Fabio Cannavaro: ‘Uzbeks are tough, never give up. Playing them is a pain in the arse’

Fabio Cannavaro pictured outside the Paradiso training centre in Naples, where Napoli trained during the Diego Maradona era. Photograph: Roberto Salomone/The Guardian

Uzbekistan may have made history by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in the country’s 34 years of independence in June after losing only once in 15 qualifiers. But they then had a problem: Timur Kapadze stepped down and they needed a head coach for next year’s tournament.

They turned to Fabio Cannavaro, Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain and Ballon d’Or winner, who has had a rich and varied coaching career and was ready to take on the challenge of managing a nation still taking its first steps in international football.