Defender wins big football award 卡纳瓦罗：后卫也能当选“世界足球先生”。 Posted on 2007-01-12　Issue:163

ON the football field, the strikers (射手) who make the goals win the loudest applause (掌声). Some think they are the only heroes that can get the top awards.

The Italian footballer Fabio Cannavaro has proved (证明) this view wrong. He shows that every player in a match counts. He did this by winning the FIFA (国际足联) Player of the Year award on December 18.

Cannavaro said his prize would give other defenders (后卫) more hope. "From today, every defender can try to get an award like the FIFA World Player because only forwards and midfielders (中场球员) won it before," he said.

The 33-year-old Cannavaro once helped Italy to get its fourth World Cup title. This time, he competed with two strikers Zine Zidane (齐达内) and Rinaldinho. He finally beat them.

When he won the Golden Ball Award last month, a lot of people said this award should have gone to a striker. But Cannavaro has again beaten this view.

Cannavaro learned to play football in a town of Naples, Italy. Later, he became a ball boy at the city's stadium (体育馆) while Diego Maradona played there. That was before he entered the Serie A game in his country.

While the Italian football clubs were criticized (批评) because of scandals (流言), he set a role model by trying his best to do well in every match. It has encouraged other players and given hope to the country's football spirit.

Cannavaro stands out most for his leadership. As captain of Italy at the World Cup, he knew how to bring out the country's defensive tradition. A lot of top defenders were born in Italy.

"I'll tell you a secret to going a long way in a match. It is to rediscover (再度发现) some of the traditional defensive approaches (方法) of Italian football culture," he said.
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Your turn: research
Surf the Internet to find out how many footballers have won both the Golden Ball Award and the FIFA Player of the Year. List their names