Paolo Maldini was a hard act to follow as Italy [Images] captain but Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro has slipped into the role comfortably and, as with his predecessor, his calmness and defensive quality are crucial to the World Cup hopes of the Azzurri.

Cannavaro, like another former Juve and Italy defender Ciro Ferrara, was born in Naples and he shares with his former team mate a winning smile, laid-back approach and a widespread popularity in the game.

Like both Ferrara and Maldini, most of Cannavaro's footballing ability goes barely noticed -- it is his positioning, timing and reading of the game that have made him one of the top central defenders in the world.

It is rare to see a spectacular, last-ditch, sliding tackle from the former Parma defender because he hardly ever finds himself needing to take desperate measures.

It helps of course that at club and country level he is partnered by similarly experienced and classy central defenders.

At Juventus he plays alongside Frenchman Lilian Thuram, with whom he spent several years at Parma, while for Italy it is AC Milan centre-half Alessandro Nesta who has been his long-term partner.

Another strong and established relationship and understanding also helps Italy's defence -- Juve and Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon learnt his trade behind Cannavaro at Parma and the pair's astute observation ensure confusion is kept at bay for club and country.

The 32-year-old Cannavaro made his Serie A debut in 1993 for Napoli in a 4-3 defeat to Juventus and after three seasons with his home town club he moved to Parma in 1995.

While he was unable to win an Italian title during his seven seasons with Parma, he played European football in every single campaign and was also part of two European championship winning Italy Under-21 teams.

After debuting for the full Italy side in 1997 he became a fixture in the line-up with his major breakthrough coming in the 1998 World Cup when his performances caught the eye of a global audience and it seemed only a matter of time before he left Parma for a bigger club.

It took another four years before he got that chance. Having been linked to Juventus, AC Milan and Real Madrid [Images] among others, he moved to Inter Milan.

As with so many Inter signings, Cannavaro struggled for form at times at the San Siro but a move to Juventus last season led him to regain his consistency and finally get his hands on a "scudetto".