2006 FIFA World Cup Awards

At the FIFA World Cup, the greatest, most-coveted prize is, was and always shall be the Trophy itself. However, every edition of the game’s global showpiece has its heroes in the shape of players and teams whose contributions cry out for some sort of recognition.

After all, some of the most indelible images in the tournament’s history have been provided by the likes of Eusebio, Johan Cruyff and 'Toto' Schillaci, none of whom were ever able to lay their hands on a winner’s medal, and many of the teams who thrilled us over the years won little other than the football public's affection.

This was also true at Germany 2006. The array of awards reflected that it was players such as Lukas Podolski and Zinedine Zidane who captured the imagination and that, while Spain and Brazil left without the Trophy, they returned home with plenty of new friends.


FIFA Fair Play award
Brazil & Spain They might have seen their hopes of lifting the Trophy dashed at a premature stage, but Brazil and Spain did not return home empty-handed, with each of their players picking up medals for their record of sportsmanship and good conduct during Germany 2006. This particular award is decided using a points system established by the FIFA Committee for Ethics and Fair Play, and the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) named Carlos Alberto Parreira and Luis Aragones's sides as joint-winners after they picked up a shared total of 886 from the 1,000 available.

adidas Golden Ball
Zinedine Zidane (Fra) Arguably the greatest trophy available to an individual footballer went to one of the game’s most spectacular players of the past decade. Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo, Silver and Bronze Ball winners respectively, certainly ran him close, but despite that Final red card, Zidane undoubtedly provided some of Germany 2006’s most memorable moments, and the accredited media at the FIFA World Cup Final recognised this in their voting.

adidas Golden Shoe
Miroslav Klose (Ger) His winning tally might have been the lowest since Chile 1962, but Klose undoubtedly deserved this award having finished two clear of Hernan Crespo, Ronaldo and Thierry Henry with a tally of five goals that saw him move into third place in the list of top German goalscorers at FIFA World Cup finals.

Gillette Best Young Player
Lukas Podolski (Ger) Emerging at the head of a 40-strong field of candidates, Lukas Podolski was named the inaugural Gillette Best Young Player by FIFA’s TSG after scoring three goals and contributing boundless energy to Germany’s enthralling FIFA World Cup campaign. “This is a big motivation for myself to keep on improving in my career and to play a even better World Cup in four years' time,” said the 21-year-old after collecting his award.

Lev Yashin Award
Gianluigi Buffon (Ita) No surprises here. Gianluigi Buffon produced as close to a perfect tournament as can be humanly possible, conceding just twice during Italy’s triumphant campaign, once from a Christian Zaccardo own goal and then from Zidane’s audacious penalty in the Final. The FIFA TSG members were responsible for this decision, and so faultless was Buffon throughout the tournament that it cannot have taken them long to arrive at it.

The Most Entertaining Team presented by Yahoo!
Portugal The winners of this particular award were decided upon by FIFAworldcup.com's users, who declared that Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal had set their pulses racing more than any other team.

Mastercard All Star team
The quality of Italy’s collective and individual performances were acknowledged in Mastercard’s All Star team, with no less than seven of the Azzurri starting line-up included in a 23-man squad that also included four players each from France, Germany and Portugal. The team is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Ricardo (Portugal).
Defenders: Roberto Ayala (Argentina), John Terry (England), Lilian Thuram (France), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal).
Midfielders: Ze Roberto (Brazil), Patrick Vieira (France), Zinedine Zidane (France), Michael Ballack (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Francesco Totti (Italy), Luis Figo (Portugal), Maniche (Portugal).
Forwards: Hernan Crespo (Argentina), Thierry Henry (France), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Luca Toni (Italy).


2006 FIFA World Cup Awards >>>

Campioni del Mondo!

Italy's World Cup Review

[Channel 4 - Football Italia: World Cup Special]

Italy win a nation's hearts

There would be little point in asking an Italian whether he prefers a Ferrari or a Ford. Italians have always favoured flair over function, elan over efficiency, chic over competence.

True, in football, defensive solidity has been the key to Italian success, but they have always managed to lace in a player or two with the special touch of magic.

However, Italy now has a newly-crowned world champion team which has trimmed away the dash and panache to a minimum, replacing it with all the efficiency, functionality and workability of a diesel-engined people carrier.

Giuseppe Meazza is revered to this day from the team that lifted the trophy in 1934 and 1938, as is coach Vittorio Pozzo.

The beaten finalists in 1970 boasted the likes of Gigi Riva and Sandro Mazzola, the 1982 champions had Paolo Rossi as their talisman, and Marco Tardelli's celebration as their icon.

Despite possibly the worst penalty in history in the final shoot-out against Brazil in 1994, Roberto Baggio's sublime skill is still cherished in Italy, while Roberto Donadoni's trickery and Paolo Maldini's grace also decorated the Azzurri in America.

But from Germany 2006, Fabio Cannavaro will be remembered for his rock-like defending, and Gennaro Gattuso for his tireless work in midfield.

Gabriele Marcotti, the London correspondent of Corriere dello Sport says that Italians are more than willing to forgive any shortcomings in the team's flair department for success. He wrote: "There are no real stars in this team, but they have been a much more confident unit and credit for that has to go to Lippi. The players can also take credit as they adapted to the changes Lippi made as the competition went on. Some of the big name players like Francesco Totti weren't happy but were prepared to conform for the greater good of the team."

Perhaps the biggest personality to emerge from Italy's World Cup is coach Marcello Lippi, who cast the team in his own image. That is in keeping with the past, where Italian coaches have been larger than life characters, lauded or lambasted depending on their fortunes.

Pozzo remains the only man to coach teams to two World Cup victories, while 1982 winner Enzo Bearzot is held in great reverence. So what of Lippi, the cigar-chomping, cool-hand Luke?

Marcotti says: "Despite his success, Lippi isn't necessarily somebody you embrace wholeheartedly. Enzo Bearzot was a much-loved figure, but he fell out with the press before the tournament and banned the players from speaking. He won the public and the media over by winning the World Cup. Arrigo Sacchi was well-respected in 1994, but he wasn't easy to deal with and not everybody warmed to him."

Since reaching the World Cup final in Mexico in 1970, Italy have undergone a strange cycle of success. Finalists in 1970, winners in 1982, finalists again in 1994, and winners again in 2006, it is a cycle that hints it takes 12 years to build a successful Italian team.

"I think that's just coincidence," says Marcotti. "For my money, the best Italian team I've seen in my lifetime was the team that was beaten in the semi-final by Argentina in 1990. The 1982 victory was our first for 44 years and came completely out of the blue," says Marcotti, recalling a campaign as tortuous as a Dolomite mountain road where Italy scraped through from their group, but were transformed by Paolo Rossi's hat-trick in the win over Brazil.

"The popularity of the team grew as they progressed in the tournament, whereas this time I think people rallied round from the start. This was a good team going into the tournament, possibly the best-fancied of all the European teams, and let's not forget they played most of the tournament without arguably their best defender, Alessandro Nesta."

And that is another virtue of a more functional vehicle. Spare parts are easier to slot in.

Azzurri united

Marcello Lippi lit up a trademark huge cigar to celebrate Italy's World Cup win - and his confirmation as a living legend.

Jose Mourinho calls himself "The Special One", but even his achievements with Porto and Chelsea pale alongside Lippi's feats. The 58-year-old has now added the World Cup to a roll of honour that includes five Italian titles and the Champions League in 1996 with Juventus. Indeed, that record could be even better, but for three Champions League final defeats with Juve.

But when the smooth tactician with the Paul Newman looks gets time to properly reflect on Sunday's victory, he will do so safe in the knowledge that his place in football history is now assured.

This is his greatest triumph, unifying an Italy side against the backdrop of a Calciopoli scandal at home.

Lippi has, as ever, been tactically sound and has built Italy around the defensive rocks of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and the magnificent captain Fabio Cannavaro. And when Italy needed this pair against France, they delivered. Buffon produced a brilliant save from Zinedine Zidane's header, while captain Cannavaro was as outstanding in Berlin as he was in Dortmund in the epic semi-final against Germany.

There was a hint of controversy in the antics of Marco Materazzi in the build-up to Zidane's disgraceful attack on the defender - but Italy were ultimately worthy winners of a World Cup lacking a truly great team.

As World Cup winners often do, Italy grew into the tournament under the shrewd tutelage of Lippi - albeit with a stroke of luck with Francesco Totti's fortunate last-gasp penalty against Australia.

Andrea Pirlo was an outstanding midfield operator alongside the combative Gennaro Gattuso, and when moments of inspiration were needed, Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero provided them against Germany.

They overcame the loss of the hugely influential defender Alessandro Nesta, with Lippi harnessing the maverick talent of Materazzi. This feat was not without incident on a balmy Berlin night in which Materazzi gave away a penalty, headed an equaliser and appeared to provoke Zidane into violence.

This was the Italy of old, but combined with some flourishes of the new - another Lippi coaching masterclass with the biggest prize of all the result.

Argentina promised, Germany battled, but ultimately it was Italy who delivered. They fell back on old strengths to beat France on penalties, namely defensive resilience rather than attacking flair.

But the way Lippi's side responded to the blow of conceding a highly-dubious penalty hinted at the steel running through the side, and the team spirit fostered out of domestic strife.

Italy may not have been the most lavishly gifted side in the competition, but as so often they got the job done. They are a team that deserves credit - led by a coach who has few honours left to win.

FINAL: Italy v France

9 July 2006: Italy 2-1 France AET & PENS (Berlin)
Italy beat France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup after an absorbing 1-1 draw in Berlin. Fabio Grosso scored the winning penalty after France's David Trezeguet missed. Playing his last game before retiring, Zinedine Zidane's career ended in disgrace after he was sent off for crazily headbutting Marco Materazzi. Zidane had put France ahead early on with a coolly-taken chipped penalty, before Materazzi levelled with a header from an Andrea Pirlo corner. The result caps an incredible period for Italian football, with the domestic game embroiled in a corruption scandal similar to 1982 when they last won the World Cup. They have now won the competition four times, one fewer than Brazil, and it was the first time they managed to win a World Cup match on penalties after three failed attempts.



Zinedine Zidane's Penalty



Marco Materazzi


Zinedine Zidane Headbutt


Penalties


Celebrations

Celebrations with trophy

Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso, Camoranesi (Del Piero 86), Pirlo, Gattuso, Perrotta (Iaquinta 61), Totti (De Rossi 61), Toni.
France: Barthez, Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal, Ribery (Trezeguet 100), Vieira (Diarra 56), Makelele, Zidane (Sent off 110), Malouda, Henry (Wiltord 107).
Ref: Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (Argentina).
FIFA man of the match: Andrea Pirlo.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

SF: Germany v Italy

4 July 2006: Germany 0-2 Italy AET (Dortmund)
Stunning late extra-time strikes from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero took Italy into the World Cup final at Germany's expense with a 2-0 win. An absorbing semi-final seemed set for penalties until Grosso curled man of the match Andrea Pirlo's pass past Jens Lehmann with just one minute left. Del Piero then finished an Italy break with a delicate chip into the corner. Germany's Lukas Podolski earlier sent a header wide and saw a shot saved, but the hosts' Cup dreams were shattered. There were, unsurprisingly, tears among German players and fans after the extraordinary end to an enthralling encounter - in which Italy also hit the woodwork twice in extra-time. The opening 90 minutes were intriguing - but goalless - and it was in the extra period that the game truly exploded into life.

Germany: Lehmann, Friedrich, Metzelder, Mertesacker, Lahm, Borowski (Schweinsteiger 72), Ballack, Kehl, Schneider (Odonkor 83), Klose (Neuville 111), Podolski.
Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso, Camoranesi (Iaquinta 90), Perrotta (Del Piero 104), Gattuso, Pirlo, Totti, Toni (Gilardino 74).
Ref: Benito Archundia Tellez (Mexico).
FIFA man of the match: Andrea Pirlo.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

QF: Italy v Ukraine

30 June 2006: Italy 3-0 Ukraine (Hamburg)
Italy will meet Germany in the World Cup semi-finals as they beat Ukraine to extend their unbeaten run to 23 games. Ukraine adopted a policy of containment but were behind after six minutes when keeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy was unable to keep out Gianluca Zambrotta's shot. The Azzurri extended their lead when Luca Toni guided home a 59th minute header. Maxim Kalinichenko twice hit the woodwork for Ukraine either side of Italy's second, before Toni sealed the win as he converted Zambrotta's cross. Italy were well worth their win, with Gianluigi Buffon superb in goal.

Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Barzagli, Grosso, Perrotta, Pirlo (Barone 68), Gattuso (Zaccardo 76), Camoranesi (Oddo 68), Toni, Totti.
Ukraine: Shovkovskiy, Nesmachniy, Sviderskiy (Vorobey 20), Rusol (Vashchuk 45), Tymoschuk, Shelayev, Gusev, Gusin, Kalinichenko, Milevskiy (Byelik 72), Shevchenko.
Ref: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).
FIFA man of the match: Gennaro Gattuso.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

Round 2: Italy v Australia

26 June 2006: Italy 1-0 Australia (Kaiserslautern)
Francesco Totti came off the bench to score an injury-time penalty and put 10-man Italy into the quarter-finals. With the clock ticking down, Fabio Grosso marauded down the left flank and worked his way into the box before falling over Lucas Neill's prone body. Totti kept his nerve to convert with the last kick of the game, breaking Australian hearts in Kaiserslautern. Luca Toni had earlier missed Italy's best chances, before Marco Materazzi's red card for a foul on Marco Bresciano. The former Everton defender's dismissal, which was harsh to say the least, altered what had been an open game up until then, as both sides seemed to settle for keeping it tight. The Socceroos, who had escaped on numerous occasions when Italy's strikers should have done better earlier in the game, failed to make the most of their one-man advantage despite a wealth of possession.

Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi (Sent off 51), Grosso, Del Piero (Totti 75), Perrotta, Gattuso, Pirlo, Gilardino (Iaquinta 45), Toni (Barzagli 55).
Australia: Schwarzer, Chipperfield, Neill, Moore, Culina, Wilkshire, Cahill, Grella, Bresciano, Sterjovski (Aloisi 81), Viduka.
Ref: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
FIFA man of the match: Gianluigi Buffon.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

Czech Republic v Italy

22 June 2006: Czech Republic 0-2 Italy (Hamburg)
Italy won convincingly to finish top of Group E and eliminate the Czech Republic from the World Cup. Substitute Marco Materazzi scored the opening goal with a powerful header from Francesco Totti's corner. The Czech's hopes of progress effectively ended when Jan Polak was sent off for a second bookable offence in first-half stoppage time. And Filippo Inzaghi killed the game off near the end when he broke from almost halfway to round Petr Cech and score.

Czech Republic: Cech, Grygera, Kovac (Heinz 78), Rozehnal, Jankulovski, Plasil, Polak (Sent off 45), Nedved, Poborsky (Stajner 46), Rosicky, Baros (Jarolim 64).
Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Nesta (Materazzi 17), Grosso, Camoranesi (Barone 73), Pirlo, Perrotta, Gattuso, Totti, Gilardino (Inzaghi 60).
Ref: Benito Archundia Tellez (Mexico).
FIFA man of the match: Marco Materazzi.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

Italy v USA

17 June 2006: Italy 1-1 USA (Kaiserslautern)
The USA held on for most of the second half with nine men to earn a gutsy draw with 10-man Italy in an enthralling match. Italy went ahead when Alberto Gilardino headed home Andrea Pirlo's free-kick, before the USA levelled soon after thanks to Cristian Zaccardo's sliced own goal. For only the fourth time at a World Cup three men were sent off, Daniele De Rossi for an elbow, Pablo Mastroeni for a foul and Eddie Pope for two bookings. Kasey Keller made a series of saves as the USA held on to leave Group E wide open.

Italy: Buffon, Zaccardo (Del Piero 54), Nesta, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Perrotta, Pirlo, De Rossi (Sent off 28), Totti (Gattuso 35), Toni (Iaquinta 61), Gilardino.
USA: Keller, Cherundolo, Onyewu, Pope (Sent off 47), Bocanegra, Dempsey (Beasley 62), Mastroeni (Sent off 45), Reyna, Convey (Conrad 51), McBride, Donovan.
Ref: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay).
FIFA man of the match: Kasey Keller.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

Italy v Ghana

12 June 2006: Italy 2-0 Ghana (Hamburg)
Italy got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start with a deserved victory over Ghana in Hanover. Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring with a rasping long-range drive in the first half and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta extended the advantage near the end. World Cup debutants Ghana played their part in an entertaining match and defender Emmanuel Pappoe wasted their best chance before the interval. But Italy, prompted by the superb Pirlo, were more clinical throughout.

Italy: Buffon, Zaccardo, Nesta, Cannavaro, Grosso, Totti (Camoranesi 56), Perrotta, Pirlo, De Rossi, Toni (Del Piero 82), Gilardino (Iaquinta 64).
Ghana: Kingston, Pantsil, Kuffour, Mensah, Pappoe (Shilla 45), Muntari, Essien, Appiah, Eric Addo, Gyan (Tachie-Mensah 89), Amoah (Pimpong 68).
Ref: Hansson (Swe).
FIFA man of the match: Carlos Eugenio Simon (Brazil).

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

Warm-up Games

31 May 2006: Switzerland 1-1 Italy (Geneva, Switzerland)
Alberto Gilardino earned a 1-1 friendly draw against fellow World Cup finalists Switzerland as the Azzurri continued their World Cup preparations. The Swiss equalised through Daniel Gygax. Francesco Totti was given his first start since fracturing his ankle.

Switzerland: Zuberbuhler (Coltorti 46); P Degen, Djourou, Senderos (Grichting 70), Magnin (Margairaz 46); Barnetta, Vogel, Cabanas (Spycher 46), Wicky (H Yakin 61); Gygax (D Degen 90), Frei.
Italy: Buffon; Zaccardo, Cannavaro, Materazzi (Oddo 46), Grosso (Bonera 60); Camoranesi (De Rossi 46), Pirlo (Perrotta 75), Gattuso; Totti, Del Piero (Iaquinta 46); Gilardino (Toni 46).
Ref: Sippel (Ger).


2 June 2006: Italy 0-0 Ukraine (Geneva, Switzerland)
Italy stretched their unbeaten run to 18 matches with a 0-0 draw against fellow World Cup finalists Ukraine. Ukraine, who will be making their World Cup debut, limited themselves to defence for most of the match. But Ukraine almost snatched a late winner when Andriy Voronin missed with only keeper Gianluigi Buffon to beat.

Italy: Buffon, Oddo, Nesta (Barzagli 61), Cannavaro (Materazzi 75), Grosso, Camoranesi (Barone 68), De Rossi, Pirlo (Perrotta 58), Gilardino, Del Piero (Totti 58), Toni (Inzaghi 58).
Ukraine: Shovkovskiy, Yezerskiy, Rusol, Vashchuk, Nesmachniy, Tymoschuk (Shelayev 88), Gusin (Sviderskiy 90), Rotan (Nazarenko 73), Kalinichenko (Byelik 55), Vorobey, Voronin.
Ref: Markus Nobs (Switzerland).


The worry for Italy after these two friendlies was the lack of inspiration, which they had shown in wins over the Netherlands (3-1) and Germany (4-1) in friendly matches earlier in the year.