© EuroFootball.com
The best footballer of the world this year can officially be called the Italian national team defender Fabio Cannavaro - the captain of the world champions after winning the "Golden Ball" at the end of November at the FIFA Awards ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland. He surpassed last year's laureate Ronaldinho and Zinedine Zidane in the Best selection and was announced Player of the Year.
During the award ceremony at the Zurich Opera House, led by former Dutch national team star Ruud Gullit and Amanda McLane, the highlight was the announcement of the Player of the Year. It was revealed that in the FIFA surveys, the world's national team coaches and captains selected Italian Fabio Cannavaro as the best. Both Lithuanian national team coach Algimantas Liubinskas and team captain Tomas Danilevičius listed French national team forward Thierry Henry in the top spot in their survey, while Cannavaro was chosen in the third and second positions respectively.
The 33-year-old former Turin "Juventus" and now Madrid "Real" player F.Cannavaro, with 498 points, surpassed the second-placed retired French national team defender Z.Zidane with 454 points and became the first defender to win the award. Meanwhile, in third place with 380 points remained Ronaldinho, who was elected the best player in 2004 and 2005.
"The competition was intimidating, it was so strong. After winning the World Cup and also the European Player of the Year award, I probably can't ask for anything more. It's unusual for a defender to be next to Ronaldinho and Zinedine Zidane, who do amazing things all season, so just being here is a victory for me. I dedicate this win to Italian football that has overcome great difficulties," said F.Cannavaro.
However, Z.Zidane did manage to outperform his Italian rival in one category - the Frenchman was named the best player of the 2006 World Cup, with Cannavaro coming second, and the third place went to the latter's teammate in the Italian national team, defender Andrea Pirlo.
The most prolific player in the competition, Miroslav Klose, took home the "Golden Boot" award with 5 goals, surpassing Argentina's Hernan Crespo and Brazil's Ronaldo, who each scored 3 goals. The best goalkeeper of the championship, Gianluigi Buffon, had to accept the legendary Lev Yashin award, but he could not attend Zurich.
The best female footballer in the world was Brazil's Marta, who finished third in the 2004 vote and second last year. This time, the latter place was taken by American Kristine Lilly, while German Renate Lingor had to settle for the bronze prize.
During the one and a half hour celebration, various other awards were presented - the FIFA Fair Play award was given to the fans who participated in the World Cup, the FIFA Presidential award was established for former Italian national team and Inter Milan defender and president, Giacinto Facchetti, who died tragically in September.
"We were deeply shocked to learn of his tragic death. We will always remember him as a special player, a competent administrator, and most importantly, simply an amazing person. We lost a true friend whom we will never forget," said FIFA President Sepp Blatter in his speech, who later invited a minute of silence to honor Giacinto Facchetti, legendary Hungarian Ferenc Puskas, and two "Juventus" team players who tragically died a few days ago.
FIFA Player of the Year voting 1. Fabio Cannavaro (Turin "Juventus"/Madrid "Real", Italy) - 498 pts. 2. Zinedine Zidane ("Real"/retired, France) - 454 3. Ronaldinho ("Barcelona", Brazil) - 380 4. Thierry Henry (London "Arsenal", France) - 317 5. Samuel Eto'o ("Barcelona", Cameroon) - 300 6. Didier Drogba (London "Chelsea", Ivory Coast) - 150 7. Kaka ("Milan", Brazil) - 139 8. Gianluigi Buffon ("Juventus", Italy) - 118 9. Andrea Pirlo ("Milan", Italy) - 89 10. Cristiano Ronaldo ("Man Utd", Portugal) - 69 11. Michael Ballack (Munich "Bayern"/"Chelsea", Germany) - 53 12. Steven Gerrard ("Liverpool", England) - 48 13. Miroslav Klose (Bremen "Werder", Germany) - 46 14. Frank Lampard ("Chelsea", England) - 31 15. Deco ("Barcelona", Portugal) - 25 16. Luis Figo (Milan "Inter", Por...
