a écrit le 30 novembre 2005 à 20h58 Who will succeed Ronaldinho and Birgit Prinz as FIFA World Players of the Year? As the tension mounts, the shortlist in each category has now been cut down to three candidates…
Six top stars on tenterhooks...
In this feature
Samuel Eto'o: The best is yet to come
Frank Lampard: No stopping the Englishman
Ronaldinho: The smiling face of football
Shannon Boxx: USA's cool-headed heroine
Marta: An awesome blend of speed and technique
Birgit Prinz: Hoping for the hat-trick
The votes of the coaches and captains from each of FIFA's member associations have now been cast. The ballot boxes have been sealed and the (first) verdict reached. In alphabetical order: Samuel Eto'o, Frank Lampard and Ronaldinho are the men's finalists, while Shannon Boxx, Marta, and Birgit Prinz are the pick of the bunch among the women.
The fact that the men's category includes Ronaldinho - fresh from winning the France Football Golden Ball, in irresistible form for Barcelona these last weeks, the key player in Brazil's victory in the FIFA Confederations Cup and indispensable to the Seleçao in the qualifying campaign for Germany 2006 - will surprise no one. If he takes this title too, he will become only the third player after Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo to lift more than one FIFA World Player award.
Having performed remarkably for Chelsea during their packed 2004 - 2005 season and shown splendid form for England in the qualifiers for football's supreme event, Frank Lampard, was also widely expected to figure among the final few. If the vote goes his way, the midfielder would become the first Englishman to win this highly prized trophy.
And while Samuel Eto'o's name may not have cropped up too frequently as one of the big favourites, the Cameroonian player fully deserves his place in this trio: exceptional up front for Barca since joining the Catalan giants, few would dispute that he is worthy of following in the footsteps of Liberia's George Weah who, precisely ten years ago (an omen perhaps?), became the first African footballer ever to win the FIFA World Player award.
Brazil's Marta (right) and Germany's Birgit Prinz (left) pose during a press conference on the 20 December 2004 before the FIFA Centennial World Player Gala 2004, in Zurich.
(AFP)
FRANCK FIFE
Prinz still at the top; Marta there again and Boxx makes her debut
Where the women are concerned, the trio chosen by the coaches and captains contains no great surpr
Six top stars on tenterhooks...
In this feature
Samuel Eto'o: The best is yet to come
Frank Lampard: No stopping the Englishman
Ronaldinho: The smiling face of football
Shannon Boxx: USA's cool-headed heroine
Marta: An awesome blend of speed and technique
Birgit Prinz: Hoping for the hat-trick
The votes of the coaches and captains from each of FIFA's member associations have now been cast. The ballot boxes have been sealed and the (first) verdict reached. In alphabetical order: Samuel Eto'o, Frank Lampard and Ronaldinho are the men's finalists, while Shannon Boxx, Marta, and Birgit Prinz are the pick of the bunch among the women.
The fact that the men's category includes Ronaldinho - fresh from winning the France Football Golden Ball, in irresistible form for Barcelona these last weeks, the key player in Brazil's victory in the FIFA Confederations Cup and indispensable to the Seleçao in the qualifying campaign for Germany 2006 - will surprise no one. If he takes this title too, he will become only the third player after Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo to lift more than one FIFA World Player award.
Having performed remarkably for Chelsea during their packed 2004 - 2005 season and shown splendid form for England in the qualifiers for football's supreme event, Frank Lampard, was also widely expected to figure among the final few. If the vote goes his way, the midfielder would become the first Englishman to win this highly prized trophy.
And while Samuel Eto'o's name may not have cropped up too frequently as one of the big favourites, the Cameroonian player fully deserves his place in this trio: exceptional up front for Barca since joining the Catalan giants, few would dispute that he is worthy of following in the footsteps of Liberia's George Weah who, precisely ten years ago (an omen perhaps?), became the first African footballer ever to win the FIFA World Player award.
Brazil's Marta (right) and Germany's Birgit Prinz (left) pose during a press conference on the 20 December 2004 before the FIFA Centennial World Player Gala 2004, in Zurich.
(AFP)
FRANCK FIFE
Prinz still at the top; Marta there again and Boxx makes her debut
Where the women are concerned, the trio chosen by the coaches and captains contains no great surpr
