The Real World Player Of The Year? by Chua Kee Peow

The FIFA award ceremony is like the Academy Awards for the football world. But beneath all that glitz and glamour stands at least one recipient unworthy of the award that he has received.

That person is, of course, the newly crowned World Player of the Year, Zinedine Zidane (Zizou). Yes, I know, he is the "inspiration" of the French national side but let's face it, sometimes he just walks around the pitch doing nothing much. A friend of mine even commented that he gives up chasing after the ball too easily. Perhaps it is not obvious enough for the football world to see that, because Petit and gang are working so tirelessly in midfield.

I believe that he won the award simply because the French team was successful in their Euro 2000 campaign and he, being the more stylish player and goal scorer, was more prominent. However, just as soccer is a team game, it was the whole French team that had won the tournament for them and Zizou was only a small part of that.

Now let's review his exploits for Juventus this season. He was sent off during a Champion's League match and it eventually caused his team to crash out. It was not simply a sending-off due to hard tackles, but he actually head butted an opposing player. This is most unbecoming of a footballer.

I think the World Player of the Year should also have qualities such as sportsmanship and good mannerisms besides good football skills. The football world would not want to have another drug taking Diego Maradona as a role model for future footballers to look up to.

On the other hand, Zizou's fellow nominees, Rivaldo and Luis Figo, have also performed well. Figo led the Portuguese team to the semi-finals of Euro 2000 only to be beaten by (who else?) France. His form in his new team, Real Madrid, is breathtaking and they are safely through to the next phase of the Champion's League.

Though Rivaldo's Barcelona is also out of Europe, he has been carrying the team despite some bad overall performances. His goals have been most crucial for Barcelona and he has displayed the skills and aptitude that showed us why he was a former winner of the award.

So who in my opinion should be the REAL World Player of the Year?

Perhaps it should be David Beckham of Manchester United.

Note:
This article was published on the Aspire website, in the column, The Huddle, between 2001-2002.

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