Fabio Cannavaro was voted FIFA Player of the Year on Monday,
becoming the first defender and the second Italian to earn the
honor.
Brazilian midfielder Marta was voted FIFA Women's Player of the
Year, with US forward Kristine Lilly finishing second.
The 33-year-old Cannavaro, who captained Italy to its fourth
World Cup title, finished with 498 points after voting by national
team coaches and captains.
"It is indeed more difficult for a defender to come this far,"
Cannavaro said.
Zinedine Zidane was second with 454 points. He was voted top
player at the World Cup despite his ejection in the final for
head-butting Marco Materazzi.
Ronaldinho, who won the award in 2004 and 2005, was third with
380 points.
The only other Italian to ever be voted world player of the year
by FIFA was Roberto Baggio in 1993, two years after the award
began. This was a tumultuous year for Italian soccer, which was
racked by a scandal in which team officials were found guilty of
match-fixing for Serie A games.
"I would like to dedicate this award to Italian football,"
Cannavaro said. "Everyone knows that we have had problems, and this
should be a moment of rebirth for Italian football."
Marta topped the voting for the women's award with 475 points.
Lilly had 388 and German midfielder Renate Lingor ranked third with
305. Marta finished second behind Germany's Birgit Prinz last
year.
"I don't feel much pressure. I just want to keep playing at my
level," said the 20-year-old Marta, who was prevented from
competing in the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Championship this year
by her Swedish club, Umea IK.
(China Daily via AP December 19, 2006)
