Fabio Cannavaro sacked by Saudi club

Cannavaro's final game was Thursday's 4-3 loss to Najran that left the defending champions well off the pace in sixth place in the table with 10 games remaining.

The former Italian defender, who led his country to World Cup success in 2006 and played for Juventus and Real Madrid, only managed six wins in his 14 games in charge of the Saudi side, who kick off their Asian Champions League campaign later this month.

It was a second successive curtailed managerial stint for Cannavaro, whose coaching debut with Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande ended early last year after only a few of months in charge.

[ANALYSIS: Which of the new generation of managers has the best chance of success?]