Real Madrid's Fabio Cannavaro, the captain of Italy's soccer World Cup champion team, poses with his Golden Ball award during a press conference at the headquarters of French sports daily 'L'Equipe', Monday, Nov. 27, 2006 in Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris. Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro won the Golden Ball award Monday, the first defender in 10 years selected as Europe's best player. Cannavaro, who played for Juventus but moved to Real Madrid after helping Italy win the World Cup, got 173 points in France Football magazine's annual poll of 52 journalists from around the world. Juventus goalie Gianluigi Buffon was second with 124 points, followed by Arsenal striker Thierry Henry with 121. FC Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho, who won the award last year, was fourth with 73 points. France's Zinedine Zidane was fifth with 71. Cannavaro is the third defender in 30 years to win - Matthias Sammer won the award in 1996 and Franz Beckenbauer in 1976. He was also the fifth Italian to win, following Roberto Baggio (1993), Paolo Rossi (1982), Gianni Rivera (1969) and Argentine-born Omar Sivori (1961). "This is a double honor," Cannavaro said. "It is given to the best player, and the fact I am a defender makes it even more special." "It is a fantastic award, the crowning achievement of an exceptional year," said Italy's coach Marcelo Lippi,. The 33-year-old Cannavaro also has also played for Napoli, Parma and Inter Milan. At Parma, he played 212 league games and formed one of Serie A's best defensive partnerships with Lilian Thuram. "I think he deserves the award if we take into account the World Cup as a whole," Thuram told French television. 點擊查看更多雙語新聞 (AP)

意大利國家足球隊現任隊長法比奧·卡納瓦羅于本周一榮膺“歐洲金球獎”，這是十年來首位后衛球員獲此殊榮。 今年夏天卡納瓦羅帶領意大利國家隊奪得世界杯冠軍，之后，他離開尤文圖斯俱樂部，加盟皇馬俱樂部。法國《足球》雜志每年都會召集來自世界各地的52名記者評選出當年的歐洲足球先生，今年卡納瓦羅以173分捧回金球獎杯，尤文圖斯俱樂部隊守門員布馮和阿森納俱樂部隊前鋒特里·亨利分別以124分和121分名列第二位和第三位。 去年的金球獎得主、巴塞羅那俱樂部前鋒羅納爾迪尼奧今年以73分位居第四。法國的齊達內以71分排名第五。卡納瓦羅是30年來第三位當選歐洲足球先生的后衛，此前的兩位是1996年的馬蒂亞斯·薩默爾（德國）和1976年的弗蘭茲·貝肯鮑爾（德國）。 同時，卡納瓦羅是繼羅伯特·巴喬（1993）、保羅·羅西（1982）、吉安尼·里維拉（1969）和阿根廷裔球員奧馬·施華尼（1961）之后第五位獲此殊榮的意大利球員。 卡納瓦羅說：“這個獎對于我來說是個雙重榮譽。一方面，這是一個最佳球員的獎項，而我又是后衛出身，所以這個獎對于我來說更加特別。” 意大利國家隊教練馬爾切洛·里皮說：“對于意大利足球來說，今年是不同尋常的一年，這個特殊的獎項則是意大利隊在這一年中得到的最高榮譽。” 33歲的卡納瓦羅曾效力于意大利的拿波里、帕爾瑪和國際米蘭俱樂部。他在帕爾瑪俱樂部共打了212場聯賽，并和利利安·圖拉姆組成了意甲聯賽中最堅固的后防線。 圖拉姆在接受法國電視臺的采訪時說：“卡納瓦羅帶領意大利隊奪得本屆世界杯的冠軍，這個獎項應該屬于他。” （英語點津姍姍編輯）