Can a specialist who cannot boast of great results in coaching history finally speak up? What are the advantages of his appointment?
It has finally become known under which coach the Uzbekistan national team will go to the first World Cup in its history. The UFA officially announced Italian Fabio Cannavaro as the new head coach, and a press conference was held with his participation. The contract is in the 2+3 format, and former head coach Temur Kapadze will also assist Cannavaro at least until the end of the World Cup.
Who is Fabio Cannavaro?
Fabio Cannavaro may not be well-known to young football fans. He was one of the best defenders in the world at the beginning of the century and remains the last defender awarded the Ballon d'Or. He is a two-time champion of Italy with Juventus and Spain with Real Madrid. He won the UEFA Cup with Parma. His biggest achievement, of course, was the victory with "Scuadzurra" at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Fabio Cannavaro was the captain of that team, and it was thanks to this title that he won the Ballon d'Or at the end of the year in competition with players like Zidane and Ronaldinho.
Vadim Abramov is right - "unfortunately, Cannavaro doesn't play football in Uzbekistan, but coaches." The question of what kind of coach Cannavaro is is more important to us because, if we look at practice, there are many cases where the best footballers cannot succeed as coaches, or conversely, during their playing time, average, unknown individuals later become top coaches. This is what worries Uzbek football fans the most - although Cannavaro left his career in 2014 and entered the coaching field, we cannot find any significant results from him during this time. Naturally, even for the Uzbek football community, which opposed the world champion Joachim Löw and did not recognize Paulo Bento's superiority over Capaze, Cannavaro's appointment was like a cold shower from the beginning.
Cannavaro's independent coaching career began in 2014 with Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. In the 2015/16 season, he worked as the coach of the Saudi club "An-Nasr," but was dismissed before the end of the season. The reasons cited are the lack of growth in the team and the failure to fulfill the assigned tasks.
In the summer of 2016, Fabio signed with another Chinese team, Tianjin. Under Cannavaro's leadership, the team reached the Super League, winning 3rd place in their inaugural season. However, it's worth noting that by the time Cannavaro arrived, the team was almost ready for promotion to the Super League, and the squad was significantly strengthened. The club began to strengthen with the help of a new sponsor and at the beginning of 2016, having spent 40 million euros (3rd place in China), brought in such famous footballers as Jadson, Luis Fabiano. At the end of that season, Cannavaro was recognized as China's best coach.
In 2017, he returned to Guangzhou and won the Chinese Super Cup in 2018 and the championship in 2019. Cannavaro will remain at the club until the fall of 2021, and in the meantime, he will be called up to the Chinese national team. However, less than two months later, Fabio was dismissed from the Chinese national team.
Cannavaro's return to Europe in 2021-2025 was also unsatisfactory. His career at Benevento, Udinese, and the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb was short-lived, with each resignation lasting less than a year. Although Fabio finished 2nd in the championship with Dynamo, this was a failure for the club, which had not given the title to anyone else for 18 consecutive years. At the same time, Cannavaro's 2-1 victory over AC Milan in the Champions League group stage during his time in Croatia is particularly noteworthy.
It can be concluded that only Cannavaro's performance at Guangzhou can be assessed satisfactorily; other projects have not been successful.
Why not Kapadze?
In fact, the decision by the UFA to replace the head coach began long ago, right after the national team qualified for the World Cup. Even before that, when Srechko Katanec's contract was terminated, there was a high probability that there was an idea to bring in another coach from abroad, simply at that time, official matches were waiting ahead, and the qualification issue hadn't been resolved. In a short time, a foreign coach will not agree to accept the team for another important task. Therefore, Temur Kapadze was chosen as the interim coach as the most suitable option for the team. At that time, Kapadze said that his contract with the UFA is until November 2025.
However, Kapadze's excellent management of the national team, particularly his bold and confident performances against Iran and Qatar, made him the most deserving coach for this role before football fans, journalists, and the public. The idea of replacing him and bringing in another coach seemed logically incorrect. This can be seen not only in Cannavaro, but also in the negative reaction when more experienced versions of Löw or Bentu appeared. However, it's clear that the idea of bringing a famous foreign coach with experience specifically for major competitions for the UFA World Cup had been held for quite some time, and the past three months were spent searching for and negotiating with a specialist who meets these requirements.
Why Cannavaro?
Before the appearance of the name Fabio Cannavaro, there were various reports about a number of specialists. Initially, the German specialist Joachim Löw variant was discussed, but later the names Fatih Terim and Sleván Bilich were mentioned, and Paulo Bentu even visited Tashkent. It turned out that Joachim Löw refused and said he had no intention of returning to coaching at all. The parties could not agree on financial terms with Bentu, and negotiations were not held at all with someone like Terim or Bilic.
According to Davron Fayziyev, who worked as the head of the UFA information service at that time, speaking on the "Central Sector" podcast, the UFA also contacted a foreign analytical company to find a specialist stylistically suitable for the national team. According to the analysis, the coaching school of Srechko Katanets, who played as a footballer in Italy, is also close to the style of this country. For this reason, Katanets's team, formed in Uzbekistan, is considered the closest to Italian football in terms of style, values, and ideology. Therefore, it is advisable to attract specialists who are close to the style of Italian or Italian football. Although Fabio Cannavaro did not work much in Italy as a coach, his views on football and the fact that the coaches who mentored him as a player were Italian were of great importance. Naturally, it should be noted that the time for more in-depth research and longer negotiations has also decreased.
It should also be noted that we only know the names that the UFA wants in some sense, and in fact, there are many coaches rejected by the organization.
"I personally know a number of coaches who were ready to accept our national team and expected such an offer. But perhaps those coaches didn't match according to some UFA criteria. We don't know any coaches rejected by the association; I think that list is much longer," said renowned football expert Alisher Nikimbayev.
To the Asian Cup with Cannavaro too
The contract term was not 1+4, as many previously stated, but 2+3. This means that Fabio Cannavaro will prepare the team not only for the World Cup, but also for the Asian Cup, which will be held in January 2027. As an assistant coach, Temur Kapadze will closely assist Cannavaro in familiarizing himself with Uzbek football and obtaining information about the team's candidates. Temur is expected to only assist until the end of the World Cup, after which he will go his own way. Of course, he can also assist Cannavaro while managing a Super League club.
The Italian specialist did not hide that he came to Uzbekistan for a longer period of time.
"When I visited here a month ago, I jokingly said that I was ready to work, and it happened. Of course, I also observed the players, but this is clearly evident in training. Today we met with the players, some of them speak Italian. Communication between the coach and the players is very important. We also spoke with Temur Kapadze about the players called up to the training camp. I am in favor of having local specialists at the headquarters, which will be very helpful for me. It is necessary to quickly assimilate the mentality of football players, the culture of the country, therefore I myself asked Ravshan Ermatov about this.
I also follow Super League matches, and as I mentioned, watching players on the field gives the best impression.
I came with a lot of suitcases. My goal is to spend more time here, I even brought my bicycle, I don't know if I'll have time to drive it, but I like to be more among people. I also follow the games of youth and junior teams, there is great enthusiasm.
It is necessary to increase the intensity of the Super League, we will talk about this with the management. The more we move at a high tempo during the game, the better the results begin to improve. Football players' recovery is also very important. We would also ask the coaches at clubs to send daily, weekly, or monthly indicators of the players, and then we would be able to find out whether their results are improving or not. The pace at the World Cup is completely different, I can say this with confidence," Fabio Cannavaro said at a press conference.
Regarding the coach's salary, before official reports emerged, rumors had surfaced that Fabio and his staff's salary would be 4 million euros per year. However, at a press conference, UFA Vice President Ravshan Irmatov denied this figure.
"Kannavaro's salary is not four million euros," Ermatov said, "we cannot disclose the amount based on the bilateral agreement, but I can say that the amount is neither half nor half of what some say."
What does Cannavaro give to our football?
First of all, it should be said that, like any foreign coach, he can bring the right atmosphere into the national team system and in relations with it. Cannavaro is a football star, and in comparison, he is much more well-known in the world than Cooper or Katanets. This, in turn, is of great importance in the national team environment, in external relations with it, or in negotiations with other countries. At the same time, his success in football can also be a kind of motivation for local footballers. In any case, regardless of how strong the coach is, seeing a "Golden Ball" winner, a world champion, rather than someone who couldn't qualify for the World Cup as a player, can raise their attitude towards training to a more serious level.
Secondly, the attention to the national team will be different during the friendly matches and next year's World Cup. There might be special attention in the media as a team led by Fabio Cannavaro, not just a team that is visiting for the first time and where Husanov plays. Let's say, if we happen to be in the same group with teams like Italy or Brazil, additional intrigues emerge with headlines like "Fabio vs. Italy" or "Teacher vs. Apprentice Match."
It's difficult to say whether Temur is superior to Kapadze specifically in tactical matters, in terms of coaching skills and potential, without observing the team's performances. When it comes to any player, their strengths and weaknesses are obvious, it is not difficult to guess what they can give to the team. But when it comes to coaching, assumptions are impossible. It's normal for ideas different from one team to be similar to others, and great results to alternate with major failures.
Moreover, in football, the principles of working in clubs and national teams are completely different. Given that Cannavaro's failures mainly occurred in clubs, it is hoped that his main strengths could emerge in national team football.
It's also important to remember that our national team needs Uzbekistan more than they do.
"I'm a coach now. I like this. When you're a player, you only think about yourself, but now I work 14 hours a day, I really want to be a good coach. This is my goal," he said at the beginning of his career.
However, Fabio's goal has not yet been achieved, and he hasn't yet proven himself at the level of his teammates Gattuso and Pirlo. The Uzbekistan national team is also an inspiration for him; by achieving success here, he can prove himself and join the ranks of talented coaches. Perhaps this is better than famous coaches who have proven themselves in football, and if they don't show good results in Uzbekistan, the main reason is that Uzbek football can be shown, in other words, they come only for money. Unlike them, Cannavaro is forced to use all his knowledge, time, and talent.
Claudio Ranieri, who worked unsuccessfully for various clubs for many years and was branded "unlucky" by Mourinho, made Leicester the English champions just a few years later. Therefore, we hope that Fabio Cannavaro's somewhat concerning coaching history will have no significance, and Uzbekistan will become this specialist's unique "Leicester." For now, we have no support other than hope.
K. Aslanov
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