Ballon d'Or Winner Set To Coach Italian Club

Ballon d'Or winner Fabio Cannavaro is set to take the reins of Italian second-tier club, Benevento, Italian media reported on Tuesday.

The former Real Madrid, Juventus and Inter Milan defender, who won the 2006 Ballon d'Or after guiding his country to glory at the World Cup that year, is set to sign a one-and-a-half-year contract with Benevento, according to media reports.

Benevento were relegated from Serie A in the 2020-21 season and are currently 13th in the second tier.

Cannavaro took up coaching two years after hanging up his boots in 2011 and worked as an assistant at United Arab Emirates-based side Al-Ahli before he became the head coach at Chinese Super League club Guangzhou and then Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr.

The 49-year-old was also head coach of the China national team for less than two months before resigning to focus on Guangzhou, who he was managing once again at the same time.

Cannavaro said in February he was ready to come back to Europe to start his coaching career anew.

Benevento host 11th-placed Ascoli on 2 October after the international break.