“I am filled with pride”

Original article from France Football, published in 2006.

“Fabio, you are the 51st recipient of the France Football Ballon d’Or, the fifth Italian in history if we include Sivori (who was born in Argentina). This happy news seems to surprise you…

Very much so, indeed. I’ve always been interested in this award and I quickly came to the following conclusion: the Ballon d’Or has most often rewarded attacking players, spectacular, very technical, and rarely a defender. And then, as I told you earlier, I was convinced, based on the rumors circulating in my country, that the winner was my friend and teammate on the national team, Gigi Buffon.” Learning that I had won the 2006 Ballon d'Or was therefore a real surprise, even though I had the fantastic run Juventus had in the league and, above all, the fact that I had played a perfect World Cup, according to some observers.

Speaking of Buffon, he is precisely your runner-up, 49 points behind. Thierry Henry completes the podium, followed by Ronaldinho and Zidane. Do you think this ranking is fair?

Given how the World Cup ended, we can consider it a true reflection of what happened on the pitch. In fact, four finalists from that tournament are in the top five. And when you have players like Buffon and Zidane in the mix, the choice is never easy. Being ahead of champions of their caliber fills me with pride and makes this Ballon d'Or even more valuable. This year, there wasn't one player who dominated the tournament, scoring 60 goals or whatever. The World Cup was also very competitive. I think I had a good World Cup, which must have helped.

You weren't named best player of the tournament; and the fact that the award, given to Zidane in this case, was made before the final caused quite a stir. Does this Ballon d'Or set the record straight?

It's always nice to receive individual awards during a competition, but honestly, on this occasion, I didn't pay any attention to it. I had just won the World Cup. It was incomparable to everything else.

A few weeks ago, the Italian daily newspaper, Tuttosport, claimed that Gigi Buffon had won the Ballon d'Or. In response, the Spanish daily AS published an article by Hugo Gatti, former Boca Juniors goalkeeper, who argued that awarding the Ballon d'Or to a goalkeeper was ridiculous, and that such an honor should always go to an attacking player. Does this kind of remark bother you?

Yes, absolutely. Goalkeepers and defenders are also part of the spectacle. Attackers don't just play amongst themselves! Some saves to prevent a goal can be spectacular and have a major impact on a match. If a goalkeeper has saved fifteen or so matches in a year, it's only fair to highlight him. Just like an attacker who has a high goal-scoring average.

This 2006 Ballon d'Or will inevitably be interpreted as a revenge for defenders. You are the third player in this position to win it since 1956, after Beckenbauer and Sammer, and curiously, the first Italian defender.

(Big smile.) It's truly gratifying to join the ranks of the legends that are the Kaizer and the great Sammer of 1996. With me, it's probably an entire school of thought that's being honored. The Italian defender has always been held in high esteem.

"My strength is my consistency"

Furthermore, you won the year of Giacinto Facchetti's passing. Quite symbolic, isn't it?

Oh, yes! Facchetti left a huge void in Italian football. Beyond the footballer he was, beyond his invaluable role as an executive at Inter, Giacinto was a humble, honest, and inspiring person, whom I had the privilege of knowing at the Nerazzurri for two years. It will be very difficult to find someone of his stature.

You're putting the Italian school of thought in the spotlight. Yet, a few years ago, you stated that it was losing momentum, that younger players no longer knew how to practice true man-marking. Are you still so pessimistic?

Many observers claim that once my generation retires, we won't see any more defenders accustomed to strict, close marking. And I see this when I watch matches. In the penalty area, our defenders are more focused on the ball than on the opponent. But, as Capello rightly points out, the ball doesn't end up in the back of the net by itself. You have to mark your opponent to prevent them from scoring. If you don't close down the striker when they receive a cross, you're making it easy for him. I fear that, little by little, we're losing a certain defensive culture. And this isn't a recent phenomenon. I've often been told, "Cannavaro is good at protecting his goalkeeper but not at building attacks." Personally, I've never seen a defender carry the ball fifty meters and go into the opponent's goal. I think that when a defender wins the ball back from his own area and passes it to the full-backs or central midfielder, he's done a large part of his job. In recent years, we've mainly looked for defenders skilled at creating attacking opportunities, rather than those who can handle defensive duties.

What qualities does the new Ballon d'Or winner recognize in himself?

First and foremost, I think I'm an impeccable professional. Too much so, even, according to some teammates! It's true that I don't overlook any detail. I love what I do and I try to do it as well as possible. I think I have good positioning and a great sense of anticipation, which allows me to make my move at the right moment. Being relatively short (1.76 m), I've worked a lot on my heading (see elsewhere). I believe I now have a good jumping ability. My biggest strength remains my ability to deliver consistent performance. This has been the case throughout my career, except for my last season at Inter (2003-04) where I suffered stress fractures.

Will the Ballon d'Or change anything for you?

I don't think so. It didn't happen after winning the World Cup, and I don't see why it would change now. Of course, the demands have increased, and that's likely to continue. But I haven't changed my lifestyle. My friends are still the same. It's a matter of temperament and upbringing. I have to thank my parents for that; My wife too, who supported me throughout my career. All my loved ones, family and friends, who know me, appreciate the man before the footballer. I dedicate this Ballon d'Or to them. Not forgetting the people at Juventus and the national team.

The 2006 World Cup

"I was at the best level of my career"

As the rankings indicate, this World Cup victory for Italy had a significant influence on the Ballon d'Or vote to determine Ronaldinho's successor. Was it a rich edition in terms of showcasing individual talent?

The 2006 World Cup, in my opinion, was characterized by the supremacy of teams, of collectives, more than by the individual talents that generally emerge from this kind of event. I'm thinking in particular of Italy: it was the values ​​of friendship and teamwork that elevated the Nazionale. The most beautiful thing is that people will remember Italy because it was a strong, humble, and united team. And that the World Cup was won thanks to the contribution of every member of the group. Everyone, at one time or another, played their part.

Your group was able to face adversity, to overcome all the blows of fate, but also and especially the storm that hit Italian football, which we will discuss in more detail later. How do you manage all of that when you yourself are summoned by the magistrates in the middle of World Cup preparations?

It was a strange time! We had barely arrived in Coverciano (the Italian Clairefontaine, near Florence) when every journalist was asking me to talk about Moggi. I couldn't bring myself to attack someone who, just ten days earlier, had been my manager at Juventus. So, I declared: “Let's wait for the justice system to speak before judging someone, condemning them, criticizing them. As things stand, I don't see myself casting stones at this person or that person.” What a mistake that was! I was met with a torrent of criticism. And it didn't calm down when I received the summons from the Roman magistrates...

The same day as David Trezeguet!

In fact, we even bumped into each other! We were both incredulous, never imagining that we would have to speak before a judge about our relationship with the Moggis, father and son. I was naturally annoyed to have to answer a summons to court while we were preparing for the World Cup. However, I wasn't the least bit afraid or worried. Simply because, when a person is convinced they are at peace with their own conscience, they can, as they say in Italy, stand before God without fear.

Weren't you too disturbed?

It wasn't ideal, admittedly, to prepare for a competition of the World Cup caliber. There was this whole mess with me, but also the summonses to appear before the magistrates for Gigi Buffon and Marcello Lippi, our coach. At that point, many voices were raised demanding that the Federation remove us from the national team and fire Lippi! That's unfortunately our country for you: some people are hypocritical, going with the flow, and completely forgetting the positive behavior someone has displayed for years. Ultimately, all of this served to build up a rage that we were then able to release in matches.

Many saw similarities between the situation you experienced and that of Enzo Bearzot's team, world champions in 1982 after having to endure fierce criticism from the press...

Indeed, we heard similar comments. And also that all the noise caused by the various scandals had pushed us to go further. In a way, it's rather offensive to us, to the work of Marcello Lippi and the entire team. If you look at the results achieved by the Nazionale during Lippi's two excellent years in charge, you'll see that Italy qualified easily for the 2006 World Cup and won their friendly matches against top teams like the Netherlands and Germany, playing good football. When he took over the Italian team, Lippi told us: "We must have only one objective: to win the World Cup!" He never wavered from that ambition. The greatest satisfaction is that we achieved it in style. Too often, people associate the label "catenaccio" with the Italian team. At the World Cup, we proved that we know how to play football.

"We need to put an end to the image of pizza and catenaccio"

Despite everything, you weren’t spared during the World Cup. Were there any attacks that particularly affected you?

Some behaviors, some clichés die hard. A certain segment of the German press, for example, referred to Italians using terms like “parasites,” “mafiosi”… It’s appalling. Despite its problems, Italy is a country that’s moving forward. We can’t keep projecting the same image forever, stuck with pizza and catenaccio!

On a personal level, everyone was impressed by your confidence, your poise, both on and off the field, especially when dealing with the media…

It’s hard to imagine me losing my temper! Fortunately, I have a calm temperament. I think I’m a thoughtful person and come across as someone who smiles. We footballers have one of the best jobs in the world, and we're well paid for it. So, controversies, criticism, and the little problems of being a footballer are nothing, and everything should be taken with a smile. There are much more serious things in life than a journalist telling you you played badly!

For example, what happened to your friend Gianluca Pessotto. You learned during a press conference in Duisburg that he had jumped to his death at Juventus headquarters...

(Fabio's voice is a little broken with emotion.) Thinking about it still gives me goosebumps! Throughout my two seasons in Turin, I lived in an exceptional atmosphere and spent time with fantastic people, like Gianluca. We often had parties at his place, at mine, at Ciro's (Ferrara) or Alessandro's (Del Piero), inviting our younger teammates as well. We shared so many special moments together. The news of the tragedy that had just occurred hit me hard. I left the conference immediately: I wanted to hear from him, to be close to him and his family. I was devastated, as was the entire group. And to think that just three days earlier, Gianluca had come to see us in Germany! I saw him looking a bit thin, tired. Jokingly, I told him, "Even when you were playing, you weren't this fit!" He replied, "You know, I have a lot of work..." So, when I learned what had just happened on Corso Galileo Ferraris, my world collapsed. Fortunately, Gianluca gradually recovered.

You sent him little messages, little signs. Was that important?

It was a way of showing him that we hadn't forgotten him, of telling him to hang in there. Like that banner I asked a friend, Alessandro, to make, which said, “Pessottino, siamo con te” (Little Pessotto, we are with you), and which we unfurled at the end of the quarter-final against Ukraine. Once the World Cup was over, I wanted to give him another surprise. I had obtained permission from the Federation to take the World Cup trophy home to Naples. The next day, I took a private plane to Turin and went to visit Gianluca in the hospital. I'll never forget the look on his face when he saw the trophy, and the famous banner: our Pessottino had tears in his eyes. And I think I did too! He's an exceptional guy. He'll bounce back 100%.

Let's get back to the World Cup. When did things turn around?

I think we were always in the mix. There was the very good start against Ghana, then the slip-up against the United States. But by the third match, our team was back on track: our overall performance against the Czech Republic was superb.

In the round of 16, against Australia, Italy only advanced by scoring a penalty in stoppage time...

That day, we didn't necessarily play well, but we showed incredible strength by winning after playing with ten men for more than half the match. In Kaiserslautern, we were very focused, very present, and united.

Was there a moment during the competition when you realized that the ultimate title was yours for the taking?

No. We only felt confident with Fabio Grosso's winning penalty in the dying moments of the Berlin final. Let's just say the match against the Czechs was a crucial step: we had to win at all costs, and we managed to do it brilliantly. Then, we can't forget the victory against Germany on their home turf...

How did you emerge unscathed from the hell of Dortmund?

We were never afraid. Perhaps it was recklessness, I don't know. In any case, the crowd at the Westfalenstadion, the 70,000 spectators so close to the pitch, didn't faze us. We were sure of ourselves, of our strength, especially our mental fortitude.

How did this manifest itself?

"Yes, the Berlin final, it's a revenge for me"

I'll tell you an anecdote from the match against Australia. When we were down to ten men after Materazzi's expulsion, Barzagli came onto the pitch. Seeing how tense he was, I said to him, "Andrea, you can relax, we're going to have fun." He looked at me, horrified, and retorted, "Are you crazy?" "Not at all! Don't worry, they'll never score against us!" We were really strong mentally, bolstered by Lippi's tremendous work. Getting back to the semi-final against Germany, I think we truly deserved our place in the final in Dortmund. In 2000, I already had to face the host nation. It was the Euro semi-final against the Netherlands. But back then, we barely saw the ball and played a great defensive match, spending over an hour with ten men. The Dutch hit the woodwork, missed two penalties from open play, and several penalty shootouts. Against the Germans last July, we dictated the play. We were completely dominant, hit the post twice, and created numerous chances. And above all, our coach perfectly understood that our opponents were exhausted: so, in extra time, Lippi brought on Del Piero and Iaquinta. Italy finished the match with four attackers, plus Pirlo pushing forward. They won by a knockout.

Let's talk about the final against France. Was it a revenge for the Italians?

For me, yes: I was the only one of the Berlin starters who had played in the Euro 2000 final in Rotterdam. I'll never forget that match. We dominated, we created more chances than Les Bleus, and then they equalized ten seconds from the end through Wiltord. That goal finished us off. When Trezeguet scored the golden goal, the one that made it 2-1, we had already let the final slip away. After all, maybe it's for the best! If we Italians had won the Euros, we might not have had the same hunger afterward. That hunger that led us to the 2006 World Cup title. And, between the two trophies, my choice is easy!

But that Italy-France match in Berlin wasn't exactly a walk in the park...

To be honest, I would have preferred to avoid France in the final. Because of the two previous bad experiences: the Rotterdam final and also the 1998 World Cup quarter-final at the Stade de France. Again, it was a close call. (Silence.) I still think about that beautiful volley by Roby Baggio, alone in front of Barthez, in extra time: what silence in the Saint-Denis stadium for a second or two! But, well, no point in dwelling on it... In Berlin, things started badly for us, with France delighted to quickly get a penalty. Once again, we showed character by equalizing through Marco Materazzi, then hitting the crossbar with a Luca Toni penalty. After the hour mark, we really suffered because the French were physically stronger. But Italy held on. And what intensity in that match! I'm thinking of extra time, Zidane's header deflected by Gigi, Toni's disallowed goal. Then there was the regrettable incident between Marco and Zidane, and then the penalty shootout... At that moment, I felt we were going to win. Why? The desire we had, the conviction. Usually, when you approach the bench to choose the penalty takers, the coach always has a bit of trouble finding volunteers. Not on July 9th! Lippi took two seconds to write the names on his list: we were all game! Starting with Daniele De Rossi. Imagine: my young teammate had received a four-match suspension for his elbow during Italy vs. USA and had only just returned for the final. If he misses his penalty, he'll be torn to shreds, vilified by the media. There, Daniele showed us courage, character, and composure. A true legend!

Unfortunately, the lasting image of that final is Zidane's headbutt on Materazzi. Do you think it's been blown out of proportion? And that his fifth-place finish in the Ballon d'Or is simply a tribute to his illustrious career?

On that last point, I have no doubt. And this recognition, this tribute, is perfectly normal. I played against him several times. They were always intense duels. I consider Zizou a truly great champion, but I think he made a mistake in Berlin. And I'm not saying that because he was up against an Italian. You know, on the pitch, you hear all sorts of things. Nevertheless, a player of his caliber can't do something like that. And it can't be justified. After the final, it was talked about far too much.

How did you experience your first days as world champion?

Our arrival in Rome felt surreal! Because of the controversies surrounding the competition and the general skepticism, I wasn't expecting such a huge welcome. I was wrong! Even on the way to the airport, there were hundreds of thousands of people. It took us two hours to reach the Palazzo Chigi, the residence of the Prime Minister, Romano Prodi. Upon leaving, we boarded a double-decker bus. It was unimaginable; there were people everywhere: in front of and behind the bus! The highlight, of course, was the sea of ​​people at the Circus Maximus. There were at least a million people there!

Looking back, how do you assess your performance at the World Cup?

I was probably at the best level of my career in Germany. During the 2005-06 season with Juve, I played well, but sometimes with sloppy play and unnecessary fouls. For example, there was that very hard collision with the young Lazio player Gaby Mundigayi, who, unfortunately, was injured for four months. Watching Italy's World Cup matches again, I was impressed by the cleanness of my tackles, the fact that I usually anticipated the opposing striker, and the rarity of fouls. I think it would be impossible for me to repeat such performances! In Germany, I played seven impeccable matches, earning huge, absurd ratings in the Italian newspapers: 9, even 9.5 out of 10! The problem is that now everyone expects such performances every time!

The 2006 World Cup Italian team was like a bunker: only two goals conceded, one penalty and one own goal. What was your secret?

Lippi's game plan, combined with individual performances, was key. Whether it was me, Buffon, Zambrotta, Materazzi, or others, we were all able to reach our peak during that World Cup. This proves that we prepared like true professionals.

Behind "Il Signor" Cannavaro, there was another wall, Gigi Buffon...

He can win matches single-handedly. Attackers who took shots would have needed a rifle to score against him! For defenders, it's extraordinary to know you can rely on a goalkeeper in such a state of grace. We knew that players like Nedved and Zidane could shoot from any position, but Gigi was there to stop everything. He deserved a Ballon d'Or too!"