|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Many questions FIFA to name best players, debate World Cup sites
ROME (AP) -- Pele or Maradona? Figo, Rivaldo or Zidane? When will the World Cup land in Africa? FIFA has big questions - past, present and future - to tackle at a four-day Rome meeting of the international soccer governing body capped Monday with the Player of the Year and the Player of the Century awards. There is no clear front-runner in this year's annual race for FIFA's top player. The nominees are Portugal's Luis Figo, Brazil's Rivaldo, the reigning champ, and France's Zinedine Zidane, the 1998 winner. The 2000 award may get less attention - and create less controversy - than the special century-end honors. There are 27 nominees, but only two real contenders: Brazilian legend Pele and Argentine wizard Diego Maradona. Maradona reportedly leads Pele in the Internet vote, but the final tally will also include a FIFA magazine survey likely to give weight to older fans who tend to favor the Brazilian. Commentators in the rival South American nations are scrutinizing the voting patterns like U.S. election officials in Florida. "There's no comparison," said Brazilian coach and former all-star striker Evaristo de Macedo. "Pele was the greatest of all time. [But] the voters in this election are young and have a more recent image of Maradona." Pele, who just turned 60, missed the golden age of television, playing his final World Cup in 1970, before color TV came to Brazil. Past his prime, Pele joined the now-defunct New York Cosmos in 1974 and retired three years later. But his legend and records endure: three World Cup titles, two world club championships with Santos in 1962 and 1963, and more than 1,200 goals. No other player has even 1,000. Teammates recall a complete player who could pass and shoot with either foot, head the ball with perfection and had speed, power, a terrific vertical leap, vision and leadership. He has already been named athlete of the century in a survey of national Olympic committees, and soccer player of the century by several other polls. Still Maradona, who has a more tormented story line, may indeed be more popular, and was certainly no less magical on the field. He led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986 and took Italy's Napoli to a national championship before drugs curtailed his career. The 27 candidates nominated by FIFA include seven Brazilians and two Argentines. The Player of the Year contest has also caused some head-scratching, particularly from English fans disappointed that Manchester United midfielder David Beckham, who was runner-up last year, wasn't nominated. Even Germany's legendary Franz Beckenbauer voiced his support for Beckham. "Coming from a German, this is going to sound a little controversial," Beckenbauer told the Daily Mail. "But my vote for the world's best footballer, if I had one, would go to Beckham ... It's hard to compare one player against another these days, but in this week of all weeks I am prepared to be bold and state the case for this man." Among the three nominees, the freshest face is that of Figo, whose move from Barcelona to Real Madrid this summer was the most expensive transfer in soccer history. Figo's former Barcelona teammate, Rivaldo, is looking to join his countryman, Ronaldo, as the only players to repeat as FIFA world's best since the award was introduced in 1991. But it is Zidane - a Juventus of Turin midfielder - who has the edge over both in 2000 international play, having led France to the European Championship title. FIFA will also announce the best female player of the century and best team of the past decade. The Monday evening festivities will follow a weekend of business. Topping FIFA's agenda is a proposal to rotate World Cup sites among continents, which was suggested after Germany beat South Africa in the battle to host the 2006 Cup. Africa has never hosted a World Cup. FIFA will also consider allowing limited advertising on national team jerseys and on referee shirts during domestic games.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
