Italy were knocked out of the World Cup after a 3-2 defeat by Slovakia meant they finished bottom of their group.
With nine players in the team over 30, the 36-year-old defender said: "We've got to invest in younger players. We've got to learn from this loss otherwise it's going to take another 27 years before we win the World Cup." Cannavaro, the Azzurri's star player and captain when they won the competition in Germany four years ago, seemed off the pace as Italy struggled in South Africa, drawing against Paraguay and New Zealand before losing to Slovakia. The Juventus centre-back admitted he cried after the defending champions were eliminated, but did not believe the woeful performance in Africa would erase the memory of their 2006 triumph. "This is a black page in our history, but it can't erase what we achieved in 2006," said Cannavaro, Italy's most capped player with 136 appearances for his country.
"I'm not ashamed to say that I cried last night after 14 years in Azzurro. With four stars on your chest, you feel obligated to win. It's only natural to feel pressure but we were too afraid. I saw it in the faces of my team-mates." Cannavaro will pass the captain's armband to goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon before heading for semi-retirement at Dubai's Al-Ahli. Worryingly for the Azzurri, however, is Cannavaro's belief that the four-time World Cup winners did not have the players of the calibre of the 2006 generation.
