Patrick Vieira: The Senegalese-French-Englishman

Patrick Vieira was born thirty-five years ago in Dakar, Senegal, to parents from the Cape Verde Islands. Vieira was a grandson of a man who served in the French army, making him eligible to play for France. This was reflected in his style of play, for he was a midfield general. Vieira was spotted and signed by Cannes at the age of sixteen. “I know I’ll make a lot of money,” he said when he was eighteen. “But I don’t go to sleep thinking how I will spend it.” By the time he was nineteen, he had earned the respect of his team-mates and was named captain of the team – becoming one of the youngest captains ever in the French game.

Fabio Cannavaro: The Prince of Naples

After a career spanning nearly two decades and 659 appearances, Italy’s 2006 World-Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro has retired with immediate effect as a result of persistent knee injury.  He will remain at Al Ahli for the next three years, taking up the role of technical adviser.

Cannavaro’s first taste of success came on the international scene when he triumphed with the Italy U-21 side in 1994 and 1996 in the European U-21 Championships. Cannavaro had been a ball-boy during the 1990 World Cup final when Italy lost to Argentina in Naples. He played for his local club Napoli before his transfer to Parma, where he struck an excellent relationship with French 1998 World-Cup winner Lilian Thuram, notably winning the UEFA Cup and 2 Coppa Italia. His alliance with Alessandro Nesta provided the bed-rock for Italy at Euro 2000 as they came within seconds of winning it – an injury time equaliser by Sylvain Wiltord taking the game to extra-time before David Trezeguet smashed the golden goal home. Cannavaro moved to Inter in 2002 but an unsuccessful two-year stint there prompted him to move to Juventus.