Cannavaro crowned World Player of Year
The accolade caps off 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.
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.”
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.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
