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Today, on Monday, in Zurich, during a solemn ceremony, the best male and female footballer of the year 2004 were elected. In the FIFA-organized vote, more than three hundred national team coaches and captains expressed their opinion.
Named the best player in the world was Brazilian national team and "Barcelona" club forward Ronaldinho, who received 620 points. Second in this year's election, as well as last year, with 552 points remained French national team and "Arsenal" forward Thierry Henry, third - with 253 points representing the "Milan" club the Ukrainian forward Andrei Shevchenko, who was already recognized as the best European player a week ago.
Also in the top five were defender Pavel Nedved representing "Juventus" and French midfielder Zinedine Zidane playing for Madrid's "Real". Behind them were Adriano, Deco, Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Kaka, and Wayne Rooney, and a total of 35 players were mentioned.
Among women, the best female footballer in the world for the second consecutive year was German Birgit Prinz. Second was American Mia Hamm, who had already received this award in 2001 and 2002, and third was Brazilian Marta. The ceremony also awarded the best futsal and interactive football players for the first time - they were Brazilians Falcao and Thiago respectively.
