Cannavaro enjoys caps record

Fabio Cannavaro celebrates setting Italy’s new all-time caps record. “It is always an honour every single time to wear this jersey.”

His Azzurri career began on January 22 1997 and last night’s 0-0 draw with Switzerland was written into the history books with his 127th cap – one more than Paolo Maldini.“This is naturally a great honour for me to overtake a legend like Maldini. Now the games in my record are really quite a lot.“To wear the Azzurri jersey is the dream of every child, especially now it has four stars on it,” said the captain, referring to the number of World Cups won.“I never thought of setting records, as at the end of the day they are set to be broken. The truth is it is always an honour every single time to wear this jersey and represent Italy.

“Let us not forget these 127 caps included a victorious World Cup Final, that’s what really matters.”

Italy have stuttered since that triumph in Berlin, especially in the Confederations Cup last month, and Cannavaro has a feeling he knows why.“We know that in our careers we have done so much, but perhaps we felt that World Cup title too much and underestimated a few opponents.“The crucial thing tonight was to rediscover our motivation and team spirit. We proved the Conf Cup was just a blip and we will see a different Italy in the next few games.”Marcello Lippi changed his tactics to the ‘safer’ 4-4-2 for the goalless friendly in Basel.“We can cover the spaces better, Giuseppe [Rossi] is a trequartista who plays between the lines, so we are under less pressure. When not 100 per cent fit, the 4-4-2 is the system that protects you more.”Cannavaro remains hopeful for the future of this Italy squad, even though he’ll retire after the 2010 World Cup.“First of all we have to qualify. In all honesty, I don’t see teams around who can beat us if we are 100 per cent fit, so we have every chance of winning the trophy again.“We cannot wait for the young players, as there is only a year to the World Cup. If they are here, then it’s because they have already accumulated experience, for example [Claudio] Marchisio has played in the Champions League.”