Fabio Cannavaro wins the 2006 Ballon d’Or

By: Bob | November 27th, 2006

After much speculation and debate, Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro was handed the 2006 Ballon d’Or trophy today after being named Europe’s top footballer. Cannavaro beat out his Italy teammate Gianlugi Buffon and Arsenal’s Thierry Henry for the prize. I’ve been on record all along saying that Cannavaro deserves the honor after his outstanding play for Italy in the World Cup and at Juventus last season, but truth be told any number of players could have won the award without it being an outrage. The fact that Cannavaro is a defender and still won an award that is usually given to attacking players speaks volumes to how dominant he can be in the backline. You have to think that he’s also the frontrunner for the FIFA Player of the Year award that will be announced in December.

Update: Here is the final vote tally.

1. Cannavaro (Italy/Real Madrid) 173 votes
2. Buffon (Italy/Juventus) 124
3. Henry (France/Arsenal) 121
4. Ronaldinho (Brazil/Barcelona) 73
5. Zidane (France) 71
6. Eto’o (Cameroon/Barcellona) 67
7. Klose (Germany/Werder) 29
8. Drogba (Ivory Coast/Chelsea) 25
9. Pirlo (Italy/Milan) 17
10. Lehmann (Germany/Arsenal) 13
11. Deco (Portugal/Barcelona) e Kakà (Brazil/Milan) 11
13. Ribery (France/Marseille) 9
14. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Manchester Utd), Gattuso (Italy/Milan) Vieira (France/Inter) 5
17. Lampard (England/Chelsea), Podolski (Germany/Bayern), Puyol (Spain/Barcelona) 3
20. Juninho Pernambucano (Brazil/Lyon), Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Terry (England/Chelsea), Toni (Italy/Fiorentina) e Zambrotta (Italy/Barcelona) 2
25. Lahm (Germany/Bayern Munich) e Villa (Spain/Valencia) 1

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TITS MAGEE

WASSSSSSSSUPPPPPPPP SHAWTIESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAVID BECKHAM SHOULD HAVE WON HE IS NUMERO UNO!!!!!!!!! PEACCEEEEEE OUTTTTTTTTTT.
abui eric

why not thierry henry(best striker of his club, lost final of the major football competition)i'm sad
Gian Luca

I think Cannavaro received the award not only for being a great defender, but also for his ability to be a composed player on the field, ALWAYS.

He always started each game for his teams with a smile on his face and a handshake, kept the rest of his team in check in difficult situation as a captain, and accepted referees' decisions without making big fusses like other players do.

He is a great example to follow, both in the world of sports and... on the Italian soccer fields!
David

This is one competition thats probably lost all respect, Steve Gerrard wasnt even among these 25 players who have only had 1 good month in Germany. Fifa World Player of the year will be the real outcome.
Trent

If winning the WC is the 'tiebraker', it should have been Buffon. Otherwise, shoulda been Henry.
Horzo

What a bunch of crap. Compare Henry to Cannavaro over the entirety of the past year and - well, there is no comparison. Henry wins hands down. Is winning the World Cup the determining factor? Apparently so.
blackwhiteandgrey

Maldini deserves to win at least once. He's still brilliant - the same cannot be said of Canna, sadly, since he's been rubbish for Real, especially in the last month or so.

All credit to him for his performances in the World Cup, but if you watched him play in La Liga or the Champions League in the last week you would find it hard to believe that he's the best player in the world.
john

Great Great News. Congratulations to Fabio, Italy and Napoli!!! Finally a great player who happens to play defense wins. Many times has Canna made great strikers look ordinary.

To many times great players have been overlooked because they play defense or goal. Imagine over 20 years as the best LB in the world and Paolo Maldini never won.

I would also like to congratulate Buffon and Henri as well who are both classy great footballers.

Great year for Italian Football.
Ngalla

This is Racism of the first order. this is the Ku Klux Klan the in the footworld world. Forza Etoo Fils!!! Forza Thierry Henry. We will one day overcome racism. Shame to France Football.
johnny

cannavoro had a good world cup also at season juventus he is a good player. great article.
Nolan

It should have been Henry.
Louise

Congrats to Cannavaro. He deserves it. Not only did he have an amazing World Cup, he was the heart and soul of the Azzurri this summer. That, along with his performance at with Juventus, make him very worthy of the award.

And now everyone can come out of the woodwork and slam Canna. All I have to say is: "Scoreboard." Or more appropriately: "Big gold trophy."
madsear

We knew about this for ten days now but I still can't get over this. The guy was suspended by his own team a few years ago for doping and now he's an example we should follow.
If you wanted to give it to a world cup winner, giving it to Buffon who is and will stay the best goalkeeper in the world would have been more coherent.
The fact that cannavaro will finish the year on the bench doesn't make any oubt for me.