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Italy captain Cannavaro rejoins Juventus

  • Story Highlights
  • Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro rejoining Juve after three years at Real Madrid
  • News comes less than 24 hours after the club sacked coach Claudio Ranieri
  • Defender Cannavaro, 35, won two scudetti with Juventus, in 2005 and 2006
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(CNN) -- Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro is rejoining Juventus after three years at Real Madrid, the Serie A club announced on their Web site on Tuesday.

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro won two Primera Liga titles during his three-year stay at Real Madrid.

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro won two Primera Liga titles during his three-year stay at Real Madrid.

News of Cannavaro's return comes less than 24 hours after the Turin-based club sacked coach Claudio Ranieri and replaced him with former player and youth coach Ciro Ferrara.

The 35-year-old Cannavaro was voted world player of the year after leading Italy to World Cup glory in 2006 and has helped Real to achieve two title triumphs during his stay in Spain.

Cannavaro was in Italy on Monday for a charity match and told the Juventus Web site: "I am happy to have returned to Turin and to have the opportunity to wear the black and white jersey again.

"I am sorry that for a section of the fans the anger for having been transferred is greater then the appreciation for the glorious seasons which we lived together.

"I am sure that I can convince the most sceptical through my work, professionalism and the passion with which I will face this new adventure".

Defender Cannavaro won two scudetti with Juventus, in 2005 and 2006, while the side are currently fighting to clinch third place behind champions Inter and their city rivals AC Milan.

His one-year contract will come into force as from the start of July and club official Alessio Secco enthused: "Fabio is a world champion, a golden ball winner and a great team-spirit builder.

"During the Summer of 2006 the club was forced to sell him due to great economic necessities.

"This year we took advantage of the natural expiration of Cannavaro's contract to bring him back to Turin and we are sure that his technical abilities will help Juventus become more competitive".

Cannavaro left Juventus after the club had been relegated to Serie B following the match-fixing allegations that rocked Italian football.

He was born in Naples and played for them for three seasons before joining Parma where he won the UEFA Cup and two Italian Cups over a seven year period from 1995.

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Cannavaro, who has 124 caps for Italy, left Parma to join Inter Milan in 2002 but after only two seasons moved on to Juventus.

New coach Ferrara is determined to take Juve straight into next season's Champions League group stage and said on Monday: "I think the players need to understand that we're in a tight spot.

"They need to rediscover the right motivation to tackle our last two matches with the right attitude. The players need to rediscover their pride and the right motivation."

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