CANNAVARO IS WORLD PLAYER OF THE
YEAR
Fabio Cannavaro was proud to become the first defender to be named
FIFA World Player of the Year after collecting the award at the
annual gala ceremony in Zurich.
The accolade caps an outstanding year for the Italy and Real Madrid
centre-half, who captained his country to World Cup glory this
summer and was presented with the Ballon D'Or in November.
He would have been able to add a Serie A winner's medal to his haul
but for the Italian match-fixing scandal, which saw his former club
Juventus stripped of their title and relegated to Serie B.
Cannavaro, 33, received 498 votes from the panel of 165
international coaches and 165 international captains.
Retired France international Zinedine Zidane finished second with
454 while Brazil and Barcelona forward Ronaldinho was third with
380.
"It is unusual for a defender to be sitting alongside Ronaldinho
and Zinedine Zidane, who do marvellous things all season, so I saw
it as a victory just to be here," Cannavaro said.
"I think I have been very lucky this year because we won the World
Cup and perhaps this has been very helpful for me to make it here
tonight.
"The competition was scary, it was so strong. After winning the
World Cup and the European Footballer of the Year award, I do not
think I could ask for anything more."
Cannavaro paid special tribute to Zidane, having taken his number
five shirt when moving to Real Madrid this summer.
"When I came to Real everybody asked me what it means to wear the
same shirt," he said.
"I can only say now what I said then: it is an honour to wear the
same number as such a great player."
Cannavaro dedicated his award to Italian football as a whole.
The Italian game has experienced both highs and lows this season,
with the World Cup success coming amid the match-fixing scandal
that led to Juventus' punishment.
AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were also docked points for their
involvement.
"I'd like to dedicate this to Italian football overall," Cannavaro
said. "Everyone knows the problems we had before the World Cup.
It's time for Italian football to grow up and move on and look
forward to the future."
Zidane will be remembered as one of the world's best footballers,
but his career came to an inglorious end this summer when he was
sent off in extra time as France lost to Italy in the World Cup
final - his last match as a professional.
Ronaldinho also had a disappointing World Cup, but his year was
highlighted by Champions League glory with Barcelona, who beat
Arsenal 2-1 in May's final.
The Women's World Player of the Year award was given to the
Brazilian midfielder Marta, who plays in Sweden for Umea IK. USA
captain Kristine Lilly collected the silver award and Germany's
Renate Lingor took the bronze.
A number of other awards were also handed out at the
ceremony.
The Yashin award for the best goalkeeper of the World Cup was
presented to Italy's Gianluigi Buffon.
Zidane did not go home empty-handed as he won the Adidas Golden
Ball Award, which is presented to the outstanding player from the
World Cup finals, while Germany's Miroslav Klose collected the
Adidas Golden Shoe Award, presented to the leading marksman, having
scored five goals in this summer's tournament.
The FIFA Presidential Award was given posthumously to former Italy
defender Giacinto Facchetti, who died in September this year.
Facchetti, who spent his entire career with Internazionale, later
became a member of the FIFA Football Committee.
