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Official: Cannavaro Named FIFA World Player of the Year

It's what everyone expected and there were no surprises as Joseph Blatter announced the name of Fabio Cannavaro as the winner of the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year. The moved Italian centre back thanked the national team coaches and captains by saying, "I would like to express my gratitude to FIFA, the coaches, the captains, and all my teammates that I have ever had."


On Monday at 8 pm CET, the Zurich Opera House hosted the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year gala, which culminated with the announcement of the World Player of the Year selected by national team coaches and captains. The magical evening dubbed "Football meets Mozart" was hosted by Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit and television presenter Amanda McLane-Attali, and was punctuated with snippets from Mozart's operas and video clips of the exploits of each nominee.



The first trophies and awards presented were those won during the 2006 German World Cup. To kick things off, the Fair Play Trophy was presented to the Spanish and Brazilian national teams, who shared the same number of points. It was followed by the Golden (Klose), Silver (Hernán Crespo) and Bronze (Ronaldo) Boot awards, and then the Golden Ball (Zidane), Silver Ball (Cannavaro), and Bronze Ball (Pirlo). Italy's Buffon was honoured as the Best Goalkeeper but was unable to attend the event.


The icing on the cake


After delighting those in attendence with a new Mozart piece, the two most magical moments of the night arrived. First came the announcement of the 2006 FIFA Woman World Player, bestowed upon the Brazilian, Marta, who received a warm round of applause from fellow countryman Ronaldo. Minutes later it was Fabio Cannavaro, Ronaldinho and Zidane's turn to find out who would be named FIFA World Player 2006. Edgar Davids, Frank Beckenbauer, and Lothar Mattaüs assisted Joseph Blatter with the announcement. What everyone had predicted since Sunday was true, as the FIFA President read the Italian player's name as the big winner of the night.


“It's a huge honour to be here among so many renown players. This has been a very important year for me and I am very happy and touched. It was an incredible year. I won the championship with Juve, the World Cup, the Golden Ball, and this great distinction brings a golden year to a close. I would like to express my gratitude to FIFA, the coaches, the captains, and all my teammates that I have ever had. I dedicate this award to Italian football, as everyone knows about the problems it has gone through. This should be a symbol of rebirth for an important system of international football,” stated Cannavaro.



Club support


President Ramón Calderón and Real Madrid's Sporting Director Pedja Mijatovic accompanied Cannavaro, Raúl and Ronaldo on their travels to Zurich to attend the gala celebrated at the Opera House. As was the case during the presentation of the Golden Ball last month, the Madridista President wanted Cannavaro to feel support from Real Madrid during such an important moment of his football career.


The President shared the evening with his Barcelona counterpart, Joan Laporta, who saw his hopes for Ronaldinho winning the trophy for the third straight year dashed.

posted by khalidmrrakchi@hotmail.com @ 9:46 PM