January 3, 2025 – Fabio Cannavaro was officially presented as the new Dinamo coach on Friday.
The legendary Italian footballer arrived in Zagreb yesterday to sign the contract with Dinamo, after which he gave an interview for the club’s website. Today, he answered questions from journalists for the first time. At 5 pm, Cannavaro will hold his first training session with the team, and from Monday he will start preparations for the second part of the SHNL season.
“Good afternoon everyone. First of all, it is a great pleasure to be here. Dinamo is a historic and important club, known for the quality of its players,” said Cannavaro to open the press conference.
“I have been in contact with Dinamo for the last three months. I wanted to clarify that it’s been three months. I’m sorry about the previous coach, but that’s football. I haven’t spoken to the players yet, but I will definitely do that. My goal is to reduce the points gap in the standings. As for the Champions League, we have two important games ahead of us, we will try to do our best,” he continued.
“I will work hard every day and try to introduce young players to the team. I am not here to learn but to share my experiences as a player and coach. When I went to foreign countries, there was an adjustment period at the beginning, but in football, there are no barriers. Our obligation is for our fans to be calm and proud of us,” he said.
“We have to be very good. Fortunately, we have preparations in Turkey first where we will work. After that, we have to be successful. The difference between us and those above us is that we cannot make mistakes. We have to use the time to prepare in the best possible way.”
I will demand sacrifice from the players from now until the end of the championship. First of all, I will work hard and diligently and will talk to the players a lot. A footballer’s career is short and must be used to the maximum. The level of motivation will be top-notch against Arsenal, and then the level of motivation against clubs in the SHNL is sometimes not at the same level. That is normal.
I spoke with Gattuso. He is encountering certain difficulties in his work. He has a team with an identity, now he will cause us problems with his team. The motivation of the players is important. We also need to work with talented young players — on an individual and collective level, technically and physically.
We need to bring back the injured players, as they are important to us. While watching Dinamo’s matches, I also followed the opponents. Most of the teams are well organized. Especially when they play against Dinamo, they try extra hard. I think our difficulties are on a mental level.
As for the existing team? The sports director and the management are working on it. We will try to keep Rog and we will see if there are other possibilities. The sports director and management are focused on that.”
