Fabio Cannavaro, the recordman. He broke Paolo Maldini testimony.

On Wednesday, Fabio Cannavaro broke Paolo Maldini’s all-time Squadra Azzurra record for most caps by making his 127th appearance in the Italian National team in the friendly match against Switzerland.

Cannavaro made his debut for the Squadra Azzurra in a friendly against Northern Ireland on 22 January 1997. According to Infostrada Sports, he came on as a substitute for Alessandro Costacurta in the 71st minute.

Most international matches for Italy
Caps Player First cap Last cap
127 Fabio Cannavaro 22 Jan 1997 12 Aug 2009
126 Paolo Maldini 31 Mar 1988 18 Jun 2002
112 Dino Zoff 20 Apr 1968 29 May 1983
96 Gianluigi Buffon 29 Oct 1997 12 Aug 2009
94 Giacinto Facchetti 27 Mar 1963 16 Nov 1977
91 Alessandro Del Piero 25 Mar 1995 10 Sep 2008
88 Gianluca Zambrotta 10 Feb 1999 12 Aug 2009
81 Marco Tardelli 07 Apr 1976 25 Sep 1985
81 Franco Baresi 04 Dec 1982 07 Sep 1994
81 Giuseppe Bergomi 14 Apr 1982 03 Jul 1998

Argentina defender Sorin announces retirement

Veteran World Cup defender Juan Pablo Sorin is retiring from football after a lackluster stint with Brazilian club Cruzeiro.

The 33-year-old left back ended his 15-year career at a press conference on Tuesday.

"I'm done with football," Sorin said. "It was a beautiful career which I enjoyed a lot and always tried to give my best, give all I had. It was a short career, but I think it's time to stop while I'm still doing well."

Sorin, who played for Argentina in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, was plagued by injuries with Cruzeiro and played sparingly recently.

"I didn't have the effect I hoped for," Sorin said. "I played only six matches in seven months, that's not a lot. I'm not proud of these numbers."

Sorin was with Germany's Hamburg when he had right knee surgery in May 2007 and played only once afterward. Then he signed last year with Cruzeiro for the third time in his career.

He arrived hoping a good performance would help him return to the Argentine national team, for which he scored 12 goals in 76 matches since his debut in 1995. But injuries gave him no chance.

"It's a conscientious decision," Sorin said. "It was not done in the spur of the moment. I have been thinking about quitting for quite some time."

Sorin said the thought of retirement began in May after he sustained a right thigh muscle injury that kept him from playing in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores.

He said one of the reasons he returned to Cruzeiro was to help the team do well in the Latin American competition, but he couldn't recover in time and eventually missed the final in which Cruzeiro lost the title to Argentina's Estudiantes.

Sorin first played for the Brazilian club from 2000 to 2002, helping the two-time Copa Libertadores champion win the Brazilian Cup and the regional Copa Sul-Minas. After playing in Italy, Spain and France, he returned for a short stint in 2004 before moving to Spain's Villarreal and then Hamburg.

Sorin previously played for Italy's Juventus and Lazio, Spain's Barcelona, France's Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina's River Plate and Argentinos Juniors.

Source: Associated Press