Which Player Is an Appropriate Winner?

I found this article which is entitled Despite head-butt, Zidane wins Golden Ball. I retrieved it from msnbc.com, and it is published by the Associated Press. The article discusses that Zinedine Zidane who was a captain of France won the Golden Ball award for the tournament’s best player in the vote by journalists, even though he was sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi who was one of the Italian players at the final of the World Cup 2006 in Germany. According to the article, he actually couldn’t perform very well in some games including opening game, but he showed some great performances in many games as he digested and won some games. Comparatively, Cannavaro who was a captain of Italy led an Italian defense and lost only two goals in the tournament. The final was his 100th game as a captain for Italy. According to the article, many critics or experts voted for Cannavaro as the winner. Diego Maradona who was a winner in the World Cup 1986 also tipped him.


In my opinion, Cannavaro was more appropriate player to win the Golden Ball award than Zidane. Actually, I like Zidane’s performance very mach, but I think Cannavaro performed very well more than Zidane at least at this World Cup. I have some reasons why Cannavaro was more appropriate player to get the award than Zidane.
First, Cannavaro played an active part in every single game, even though his position was defense. He led an Italian defense and lost only two goals in the tournament.
Second, Italy finally won the World Cup. The best player should be selected from the team which won the World Cup.
Third, Zidane offended against the rule, and sent off at the final. According to “Zidane Says Italian Insulted Mother, Sister” (2006), the author says that “Zidane explained what caused him to react in fury and head-butt an Italian opponent: repeated harsh insults about his mother and sister” (para. 2). Of course, Zidane would be angry at the time, but I think what he lost his mind and as a result did head-butt to Italian player was his responsibility. I think even though he was insulted about that, he should have controlled his mind.
Therefore, I think Cannavaro was the most valuable player and should have won the Golden Ball award instead of Zidane in the World Cup.

Reference:
Zidane says Italian insulted mother, sister (2006, July 10). The Associated Press. Retrieved April 7, 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13804403/

RYO