CANNAVARO IS WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEARFabio Cannavaro was proud to become the first defender to be named FIFA World Player of the Year after collecting the award at the annual gala ceremony in Zurich.
The accolade caps 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.
"I think I have been very lucky this year because we won the World Cup and perhaps this has been very helpful for me to make it here tonight.
"The competition was scary, it was so strong. After winning the World Cup and the European Footballer of the Year award, I do not think I could ask for anything more."
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."
Cannavaro dedicated his award to Italian football as a whole.
The Italian game has experienced both highs and lows this season, with the World Cup success coming amid the match-fixing scandal that led to Juventus' punishment.
AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were also docked points for their involvement.
"I'd like to dedicate this to Italian football overall," Cannavaro said. "Everyone knows the problems we had before the World Cup. It's time for Italian football to grow up and move on and look forward to the future."
Zidane will be remembered as one of the world's best footballers, but his career came to an inglorious end this summer when he was sent off in extra time as France lost to Italy in the World Cup final - his last match as a professional.
Ronaldinho also had a disappointing World Cup, but his year was highlighted by Champions League glory with Barcelona, who beat Arsenal 2-1 in May's final.
The Women's World Player of the Year award was given to the Brazilian midfielder Marta, who plays in Sweden for Umea IK. USA captain Kristine Lilly collected the silver award and Germany's Renate Lingor took the bronze.
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.
