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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Kaka Named FIFA's World Player of Year Ahead of Messi, Ronaldo
Kaka Named FIFA's World Player of Year Ahead of Messi, Ronaldo
By James Cone
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- AC Milan playmaker Kaka was named as FIFA's world player of the year, becoming the fifth Brazilian winner since soccer's governing body introduced the award in 1991.
The 25-year-old, who helped AC Milan win Europe's elite Champions League last season, was presented with the trophy at a ceremony in Zurich late yesterday after topping a poll by the coaches and captains of 165 national teams with 1,047 votes.
``It's really special for me, it was a dream for me just to play for Sao Paulo and one game for the national team,'' Kaka, a devout Christian, said after receiving the award. ``But the Bible says that God can give you more than you even ask for, and that has happened in my life.''
Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi was the runnerup with 504 votes, FIFA said, with Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo polling 426 votes in third.
It's the second accolade this month for Kaka, who received the 52nd annual Ballon d'Or, or ``Golden Ball,'' award for the best player in world soccer by heading a poll of journalists organized by France Football magazine.
For three straight years the same player has collected both trophies, starting with Brazil's Ronaldinho in 2005, then Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro last year.
Kaka, whose full name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, was the top scorer in the Champions League last season with 10 goals. He helped AC Milan reach the final for a third time in five years, where it beat Liverpool 2-1 to collect the trophy for a seventh time.
Kaka established himself as a key player soon after joining Milan from Sao Paulo in 2003. He's also won a Serie A title, two European Super Cups and the Italian Super Cup in Italy.
Club World Cup
Two days ago, he scored one goal and set up two more in the Club World Cup final as Milan beat Boca Juniors 4-2 to become the first European team to win FIFA's global club championship.
Kaka has become one of the most sought-after players in soccer, with his skills earning endorsements with Adidas AG, the second-largest sporting goods maker, and fashion house Giorgio Armani SpA.
Kaka is set to sign a contract extension at Milan that will make him the sport's top earner, Gazzetta dello Sport reported last month. He currently makes 6 million euros ($8.8 million) a year, while his Brazil teammate Ronaldinho receives 8 million euros at Barcelona, the newspaper said.
Ronaldinho has twice claimed the world player of the year title, while three-time winner Ronaldo, Romario and Rivaldo are the other Brazilians to top the voting. Kaka is the 12th different player to win in 17 years.
In the women's award, Brazil's Marta won for the second straight year, beating Germany's Birgit Prinz and fellow Brazilian Cristaine in the poll of coaches and captains of 137 national teams.
FIFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
1991: Lothar Matthaeus (Germany)
1992: Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1993: Roberto Baggio (Italy)
1994: Romario (Brazil)
1995: George Weah (Liberia)
1996: Ronaldo (Brazil)
1997: Ronaldo (Brazil)
1998: Zinedine Zidane (France)
1999: Rivaldo (Brazil)
2000: Zinedine Zidane (France)
2001: Luis Figo (Portugal)
2002: Ronaldo (Brazil)
2003: Zinedine Zidane (France)
2004: Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2005: Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2007: Kaka (Brazil)
By James Cone
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- AC Milan playmaker Kaka was named as FIFA's world player of the year, becoming the fifth Brazilian winner since soccer's governing body introduced the award in 1991.
The 25-year-old, who helped AC Milan win Europe's elite Champions League last season, was presented with the trophy at a ceremony in Zurich late yesterday after topping a poll by the coaches and captains of 165 national teams with 1,047 votes.
``It's really special for me, it was a dream for me just to play for Sao Paulo and one game for the national team,'' Kaka, a devout Christian, said after receiving the award. ``But the Bible says that God can give you more than you even ask for, and that has happened in my life.''
Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi was the runnerup with 504 votes, FIFA said, with Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo polling 426 votes in third.
It's the second accolade this month for Kaka, who received the 52nd annual Ballon d'Or, or ``Golden Ball,'' award for the best player in world soccer by heading a poll of journalists organized by France Football magazine.
For three straight years the same player has collected both trophies, starting with Brazil's Ronaldinho in 2005, then Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro last year.
Kaka, whose full name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, was the top scorer in the Champions League last season with 10 goals. He helped AC Milan reach the final for a third time in five years, where it beat Liverpool 2-1 to collect the trophy for a seventh time.
Kaka established himself as a key player soon after joining Milan from Sao Paulo in 2003. He's also won a Serie A title, two European Super Cups and the Italian Super Cup in Italy.
Club World Cup
Two days ago, he scored one goal and set up two more in the Club World Cup final as Milan beat Boca Juniors 4-2 to become the first European team to win FIFA's global club championship.
Kaka has become one of the most sought-after players in soccer, with his skills earning endorsements with Adidas AG, the second-largest sporting goods maker, and fashion house Giorgio Armani SpA.
Kaka is set to sign a contract extension at Milan that will make him the sport's top earner, Gazzetta dello Sport reported last month. He currently makes 6 million euros ($8.8 million) a year, while his Brazil teammate Ronaldinho receives 8 million euros at Barcelona, the newspaper said.
Ronaldinho has twice claimed the world player of the year title, while three-time winner Ronaldo, Romario and Rivaldo are the other Brazilians to top the voting. Kaka is the 12th different player to win in 17 years.
In the women's award, Brazil's Marta won for the second straight year, beating Germany's Birgit Prinz and fellow Brazilian Cristaine in the poll of coaches and captains of 137 national teams.
FIFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
1991: Lothar Matthaeus (Germany)
1992: Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1993: Roberto Baggio (Italy)
1994: Romario (Brazil)
1995: George Weah (Liberia)
1996: Ronaldo (Brazil)
1997: Ronaldo (Brazil)
1998: Zinedine Zidane (France)
1999: Rivaldo (Brazil)
2000: Zinedine Zidane (France)
2001: Luis Figo (Portugal)
2002: Ronaldo (Brazil)
2003: Zinedine Zidane (France)
2004: Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2005: Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2007: Kaka (Brazil)
Monday, November 26, 2007
Blatter warns of risk that Brazilians will dominate all national teams
From The Canadian Press:
DURBAN, South Africa - FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepped up his crusade against foreign players at club and country level Sunday, warning that Brazilian players threaten to comprise half the national soccer squads in the next 10 years.
Blatter has long campaigned for a maximum quota of five foreign players at club level - a move which would contravene European labour laws.
At a news conference Sunday ahead of the 2010 World Cup preliminary draw, Blatter said he was unhappy that national laws granting citizenship through marriage or naturalization after as little as two years threatened to change the character of international soccer.
Specifically, Blatter said that Brazil - which boasts 60 million active soccer players - threatened to flood other national squads.
"If we don't take care about the invaders from Brazil, not only toward Europe but toward Asia and Africa, then the next World Cups in 2014 and 2018 out of the 32 teams - you will still have national teams - but we will have 16 full of Brazilian players," he said.
"It is a danger, a real, real danger."
Former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who is now in charge of 2010 World Cup host South Africa, said Brazil is likely to export 1,200 players this year. Over the past five years, more than 5,000 Brazilian soccer players have gone abroad.
One of Portugal's stars, Deco, was born in Brazil and grew up playing locally before being granted Portuguese citizenship. He said he made the move after realizing he would not have an opportunity to play on Brazil's national team.
Brazilian-born midfielder Antonio Naelson made a similar move, seeking Mexican citizenship so he could play for that country. Barely known in Brazil, Naelson was included in coach Ricardo Lavolpe's Mexican squad for last year's World Cup.
At the World Cup, Japan selected midfielder Alessandro Santos, who was born in Brazil and became a regular starter on Zico's team. Tunisia included Brazilian striker Jose Clayton, a key player in the African team's campaign to qualify for its second straight World Cup.
Croatia striker Eduardo da Silva was born in Brazil but moved to Croatia when he was 15 and gained citizenship there in 2002.
In 2004, Brazilian striker Ailton, who played in the German Bundesliga then, tried to become a citizen of Qatar. Midfielder Lincoln also considered switching nationalities so he could play for Germany.
Parreira said the success of Brazilian soccer lay in the combination of "mass production" with high quality thanks to well-structured training clubs which nurture young talent.
"Everybody wants to be a football player," he said.
Hosted by Copyright © 2007 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
DURBAN, South Africa - FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepped up his crusade against foreign players at club and country level Sunday, warning that Brazilian players threaten to comprise half the national soccer squads in the next 10 years.
Blatter has long campaigned for a maximum quota of five foreign players at club level - a move which would contravene European labour laws.
At a news conference Sunday ahead of the 2010 World Cup preliminary draw, Blatter said he was unhappy that national laws granting citizenship through marriage or naturalization after as little as two years threatened to change the character of international soccer.
Specifically, Blatter said that Brazil - which boasts 60 million active soccer players - threatened to flood other national squads.
"If we don't take care about the invaders from Brazil, not only toward Europe but toward Asia and Africa, then the next World Cups in 2014 and 2018 out of the 32 teams - you will still have national teams - but we will have 16 full of Brazilian players," he said.
"It is a danger, a real, real danger."
Former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who is now in charge of 2010 World Cup host South Africa, said Brazil is likely to export 1,200 players this year. Over the past five years, more than 5,000 Brazilian soccer players have gone abroad.
One of Portugal's stars, Deco, was born in Brazil and grew up playing locally before being granted Portuguese citizenship. He said he made the move after realizing he would not have an opportunity to play on Brazil's national team.
Brazilian-born midfielder Antonio Naelson made a similar move, seeking Mexican citizenship so he could play for that country. Barely known in Brazil, Naelson was included in coach Ricardo Lavolpe's Mexican squad for last year's World Cup.
At the World Cup, Japan selected midfielder Alessandro Santos, who was born in Brazil and became a regular starter on Zico's team. Tunisia included Brazilian striker Jose Clayton, a key player in the African team's campaign to qualify for its second straight World Cup.
Croatia striker Eduardo da Silva was born in Brazil but moved to Croatia when he was 15 and gained citizenship there in 2002.
In 2004, Brazilian striker Ailton, who played in the German Bundesliga then, tried to become a citizen of Qatar. Midfielder Lincoln also considered switching nationalities so he could play for Germany.
Parreira said the success of Brazilian soccer lay in the combination of "mass production" with high quality thanks to well-structured training clubs which nurture young talent.
"Everybody wants to be a football player," he said.
Hosted by Copyright © 2007 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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