13 Jul 2006(Thu)

Tokyo, July 11, 2006 -- A joke or what?

I'm talking, of course, about the Golden Ball Award for the Most Valuable Player of the World Cup going to Zinedine Zidane.

Maybe FIFA should rename the award the "Golden Butt" or even the "Golden Bald Head-butt Award."

I think the award does the game no favours whatsoever, and FIFA should have stepped in to change the result.

In fact I am sure many non-soccer fans, and many fans too, will be laughing at the award, because Zidane's act of violence shocked the world and made a mockery of the claim (not mine) that he is one of the best players in the history of the game.

With ability, genius even, and with the captaincy comes responsibility and discipline, and there are no excuses whatsoever for Zidane's hooligan behaviour, even if motor-mouth Materazzi did call him "the son of a terrorist whore".

Zidane should have been big enough to have walked away from the slur, but his temper got the better of him, just like it did at the 1998 World Cup when he was sent off for stamping on a Saudi Arabia player in France's second group game. That was vicious, too, and brought a two-match suspension, which could have proved costly for France long before they reached the final.

In the final, of course, he scored two fine headers against Brazil, and his violent act against the Saudis was swept under the carpet.

Now, though, there is no hiding, and no chance of redemption, as Zidane has hung up his boots and retired.

But let's get back to the award, in which the journalists vote for a 1-2-3 MVP, with five points for first place, three for second and one for third.

Personally, I would have voted for Cannavaro because I thought he was magnificent in the heart of the Italian defence, especially in the absence of the injured Nesta. Even if Zidane had not been sent off and even if France had won the final, I would still have voted for Cannavaro, provided that he didn't score three own goals, concede a penalty and get sent off for spitting or something equally repulsive.

I would not have voted for Zidane, and think many people did for "romantic" reasons. After all, what a great story! Zidane retires from international football in 2004, comes back a year later and, at 34, helps his team reach the final in his last game before retiring for good.

The problem is, most of the people vote before the final, because, with all the interviews and articles journalists must write after the final, the last thing they need is a FIFA "suit" pestering them to complete their voting forms (unlike Nabisco Cup games in Japan, for example, when we can vote at leisure for Konno or Inoha after each FC Tokyo game!)

I have read many interesting comments on websites around the world, and one argument is that a red card, for behaving like a drunk and bald mountain goat, should not be enough to affect your overall opinion of a player. Really?

Excuse me, but isn't getting sent off in the final, and missing the shoot-out as your colleagues toil and lose, quite an important part of the World Cup?

It reminds me a bit of Alex Santos a few seasons ago, when he was sent off for S-Pulse in the second leg of the championship play-off against Jubilo, who went on to win. The next day, Alex was named J.League MVP, which I also thought was wrong (and, more recently, Emerson, but we won't go into that! Emerson, by the way, will be 19 years old next week).

With the media being encouraged to vote early, although the ballot box did not close officially until midnight, this leaves the system open for mistakes and ridicule.

Next time, maybe FIFA should examine the results the morning after the final, and make the Golden Ball choice after a discussion with the Technical Study Group. In other words, the media vote would be a contribution to the award, not the whole of it.

Zidane is in disgrace, and I think the reputation of football as a whole has been tarnished by the award, when FIFA could have prevented it. Cannavaro was a worthy winner, but he won't mind...he has the World Cup for four years!

ends