DJT Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Kevin McKenna voted for Henry first, Eto'o second, and his third vote was invalid (what did he do?!). Stephen Hart voted for Zidane first, Cannavaro second and Lehmann third. 1st 2nd 3rd Total Fabio Cannavaro 70 38 34 498 Zinedine Zidane 66 33 25 454 Ronaldinho 50 36 22 380 Thierry Henry 28 48 33 317 Samuel Eto'o 37 29 28 300 Didier Drogba 12 24 18 150 Kaká 15 14 22 139 Gianluigi Buffon 8 20 18 118 Andrea Pirlo 6 15 11 86 Cristiano Ronaldo 7 10 4 69 Michael Ballack 3 8 14 53 Steven Gerrard 5 5 8 48 Miroslav Klose 3 5 16 46 Frank Lampard 3 3 7 31 Deco 1 3 11 25 Luis Figo 1 5 0 20 Juan Roman Riquelme 1 3 2 16 Franck Ribery 0 4 4 16 Wayne Rooney 2 1 3 16 Gennaro Gattuso 0 4 3 15 Andriy Shevchenko 1 3 0 14 Patrick Vieira 0 3 4 13 Michael Essien 0 2 7 13 Petr Cech 1 0 6 11 Alessandro Nesta 1 1 1 9 Lilian Thuram 1 0 3 8 Jens Lehmann 0 0 6 6 Philipp Lahm 0 0 3 3 Adriano 0 0 2 2 Tomas Rosicky 0 0 0 0[/code]All this info and more can be obtained from the various documents available here. The women's award is in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 I accepted Cannavaro getting the France Football award, but this is more suspect. And even then I think the voting system should be reliable, since between coaches and players you should have a reasonable take on things. This proves that in WC years, it is those few games that really matter, that many coaches and captains see nothing else. It also seems that the France Football award is influential on voting. While in off years it tends to be the Champions League or the winners of either England, Italy or Spain leagues that hold sway. This would make the votes for Eto'o, who was not at the World Cup, all the more surprising, though Africna voting likely helped there. In any case the best player in the world is hands down Ronaldinho, and I think everyone knows that. He is the finest footballer in the world by far right now, the most decisive player. But people sometimes tire of winners, I heard Scolari came out saying that this year he would not vote for him as he had done so in the past and wanted to try somethign new this time round. And Cannavaro is having a rather tough time with Madrid, his play at times has been downright calamitous, as happens with Italian defenders trying to make things work outside of Italy. Samuel was equally terrible when he went to Madrid. To be even-handed, I would argue that Thuram is showing the same mediocrity with Barça this year, these guys are so used to playing close to the area in a tight defensive system and never showing any talent passing out or going forwards (Márquez is superior overall to either of them) that when they find themselves outside of that closed tactical set-up with a limited role they struggle. I personally think it is a bit unfair that no S. American based players are even mentioned, as surely your top players at Boca or SAo Paulo in a good year should get a few more votes. But even the S. American voters seem to accept this inferiority complex, which is not really justified. Europe is the showcase, but not the only one. And though I agree that this year perhaps no SA based player has stood out, in the past we could have seen a few that never did appear high on the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 No mention of anyone from any part of the Americas, or Asia for that matter...quite a huge chunk of the world missing from the radar of our dearly beloved global sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 I felt that Cannavaro was very unlikey to not get player of the World Cup. He was absolutely phenomenal. But I agree with Jeffrey, that it seems in WC years, that is all that counts. I haven't seen Cannavaro play with Madrid at all this year, so I'll take Jeffrey's word on how he's been playing. And above that, how can Zidane come second having not played since the World Cup? I think that he is benefiting from retirement, as it has helped to add to his lustre. But what is this award? If it is the most talented player, then yes, Ronaldinho should win it, or maybe Kaka, but certainly not Cannavaro. However if it is the player that has had the best year, then there needs to be some merit given to Ronaldinho not winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 quote:Originally posted by RJB I felt that Cannavaro was very unlikey to not get player of the World Cup. He was absolutely phenomenal. But I agree with Jeffrey, that it seems in WC years, that is all that counts. I haven't seen Cannavaro play with Madrid at all this year, so I'll take Jeffrey's word on how he's been playing. And above that, how can Zidane come second having not played since the World Cup? I think that he is benefiting from retirement, as it has helped to add to his lustre. Well the thing is, what happens at the end of the 2005/6 season greatly outweighs what has happened early in the 2006/7 season. And Cannavaro was very good in Serie "A" last season, so he clearly earned this award even though he has been average for Real Madrid. The fact that Zidane finished in the top 20, nevermind #2, is a total joke! IF they had to throw in a French player because of their WC run, then why not Thierry Henry? Especially after leading Arsenal to an unlikely Champions League run. This award is a farce! Nothing more than a popularity contest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Well the thing is, what happens at the end of the 2005/6 season greatly outweighs what has happened early in the 2006/7 season. And Cannavaro was very good in Serie "A" last season, so he clearly earned this award even though he has been average for Real Madrid. The fact that Zidane finished in the top 20, nevermind #2, is a total joke! IF they had to throw in a French player because of their WC run, then why not Thierry Henry? Especially after leading Arsenal to an unlikely Champions League run. This award is a farce! Nothing more than a popularity contest. The thing is, here I am criticizing Cannavaro at Madrid, and folks know I like to slag anything RM and take it with a grain of salt, but I am right about his play this season: he is quite poor. Tonight was a great example, if you get to watch the first two goals by Recre, a team promoted this year, you see him made to look totally foolish by Uche, the young Nigerian striker. His side of the defense is a sieve, on the second goal he was faked out like an amateur. It is all very well to say that a defender deserves to win a big award just as much as a striker, but the fact is that a lot of players can defend and very few can strike. It is harder to control and define in the area than to stick in your leg and destroy. That is a simple fact, the skills are higher attacking than defending. So the defender has to be really good, and maybe have a few other things like leadership on the field (Cannovaro does not), a good clean pass out to the midfield (not here either), capacity to push forward with the ball or without and fill some holes(nope), or maybe be effective on set plays in the air (uh, uh). Meaning all Cannavaro is being voted for is showing amazing talent destroying attacks in half a dozen games for Italy, because noone seriously believes he would have even been in the top 15 on the basis of his year in Serie A. But a great defender does deserve credit, I am not arguing with that. Only seeing him with the prizes and Baresi or Maldini, two of the dozen most complete players in the world over the 90s, with no recognition of the sort, is rather irritating. All this makes me think that no central defender can shine without a good partner, and his partner in the WC was none other than Materrazzi. There is no way you can say Canno covered for Materazzi because it is not true, they were quite complementary. Meaning a lot of credit has to go to the latter for making his partner look so good in the WC to deserve these two major awards. While at Madrid he has Sergio Ramos, a young player who is wonderfully overrated, is good for a couple of bonehead blunders a game, but I am pleased with since Madrid is totally enamoured with the guy. Can anyone tell me here that Puyol or Terry are inferior to Cannavaro, I think both are far more complete than this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Jeffrey, I agree that Cannavaro may be playing poorly this season at Madrid, and where that leaves him in terms of this award is another debate. But you can't seriously be doubting his ability as a player? He was the rock of that Italian defense, and let's not forget that in a World Cup that saw a record number of cardings, he wasn't booked at all. He tackles strong, and clean. I hold him single handedly responsible for the Del Piero goal against Germany, as he one the ball through determination, and made the outlet pass that sprung him free. Should he have won the award? I don't know, I think it is very fair to debate it. He certainly is World Class, and I would rate him higher than Terry. I haven't seen enough of Puyol to comment. He's a leader that led his country to World Cup glory, so it's tough to argue with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. Can anyone tell me here that Puyol or Terry are inferior to Cannavaro, I think both are far more complete than this guy. I'd rather have Terry on my team any day than Cannavaro. Anyone who saw the Everton v Chelsea match last weekend knows how much Terry means to Chelsea. Madrid, on the other hand, could do without Cannavaro no problem. In fact they'd probably be better without Cannavaro, but their Italian manager will never drop him. But that is not what this award is about. Cannavaro won the world cup and Serie "A". That is why he won the award. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 quote:Originally posted by RJB Jeffrey, I agree that Cannavaro may be playing poorly this season at Madrid, and where that leaves him in terms of this award is another debate. But you can't seriously be doubting his ability as a player? He was the rock of that Italian defense, and let's not forget that in a World Cup that saw a record number of cardings, he wasn't booked at all. He tackles strong, and clean. I hold him single handedly responsible for the Del Piero goal against Germany, as he one the ball through determination, and made the outlet pass that sprung him free. Should he have won the award? I don't know, I think it is very fair to debate it. He certainly is World Class, and I would rate him higher than Terry. I haven't seen enough of Puyol to comment. He's a leader that led his country to World Cup glory, so it's tough to argue with that. If the thread on the World Cup was still up I could point to you where I was one of the first and loudest to praise Cannavaro during the World Cup, maybe in the round of 16 I was already commenting on it. He was spectacular, no doubt about it. And I really loved his play, I found it exciting. And I felt that he deserved to be voted best player of the Cup. But what you have to ask for from those voting is more knowledge than what any casual fan who watches the WC and little more might have. Those voting Cannavaro voted the World Cup exclusively, and a solid but not award-winning reputation at la Juve. Those voting Eto'o voted just his league play last season and the Champions, his decisive striking when playing, as he has been injured since September. Those voting Zidane voted his reputation, and a few World Cup games, maybe the last 4, as neither his last seasons with Madrid nor his promotional campaigns now are worth anything of merit. Those voting Drogba are voting a real scoring talent, close to Eto'o but inferior in my view, but a great talent and very consistent. The fact that the EPL gets more press and tv internationally than the other major leagues gives some bloated numbers to those playing there though, as you cannot reasonably vote Drogba over Eto'o. Those voting Ronaldinho vote his role at Barça, the league and Champions, and his recent play, quite impressive, plus the fact that his ball skills are the most noteworthy of any active player. If Brazil had gotten just a round further in the World Cup or if they had played with a bit more passion but still had fallen, but with bad luck, he would have won it. The press is all over Cannavaro today by the way, he is being crucified for his play last night and his weak season with Madrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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