Cannavaro, Zidane, Ronaldinho Finalists for 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year Award

Fresh on the heels of the somewhat divisive announcement that Fabio Cannavaro had won the 2006 Ballon d’Or, we learn today the names of the three finalists chosen from the FIFA Player of the Year award shortlist. Your three finalists, as selected by the captain and coach of all 207 FIFA teams (does American Samoa even bother to vote?), are: Fabio Cannavaro, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho.

Noticeably absent from this list is Thierry Henry, who a lot of people feel was snubbed for the Golden Ball. The fact that Henry is not in the top three is a joke. The fact that Ronaldinho and Zidane are in the top three is also a joke.

How I view all this is that none of the three finalists were voted solely on the merits of their play during the 2005-06 year. Cannavaro, who I have backed all along for the award, is the beneficiary of playing for an Italian team that played great team defense and won the World Cup. In a year where there wasn’t one dominant player in the world, I think Cannavaro’s solid play on solid club and national defenses makes him stand out as the best. I can understand how you might disagree and how you might want to take me to the back alley and duke it out. I’ve got mad ninja skills so be forewarned.

Zidane is a finalist because he received the lifetime achievement award sympathy vote. Zizou is one of the best ever, but last year he was not even close to his top form. He largely was a non factor with Real Madrid and outside of a few stellar games at the World Cup, he was not even the best player on the France team. Forget the head butt. Based on his play alone Zidane was not one of the top three players in the world last year.

Finally there is Ronaldinho who has been recognized as the best player on the planet for the past couple of years. There is no denying that he is capable of magic, but I feel like his selection is one of inertia and based on reputation rather than reality. He had a very good year leading Barcelona to success at home and in Europe. He was largely a disappointment for a disappointing Brazil team during the World Cup. Did he have a better year than Henry? Was he more valuable to Barcelona than Samuel Eto’o?

I would answer no to both those questions, but until American Samoa wakes up and hires me as their manager I guess I won’t get to cast my vote.

Your vote doesn’t count either, but your comments and thoughts are always welcome in these parts.

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Category: World Football