FIFA World Player GALA 2007

FIFA World Player 2007 candidates (Men)

KAKA (BRA)
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Lionel MESSI (ARG)
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Cristiano RONALDO (POR)
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FIFA World Player 2007 candidates (Women)

CRISTIANE (BRA)
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MARTA (BRA)
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Birgit PRINZ (GER)
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Photos




PREVIOUS AWARDS:

FIFA World Player GALA 2006
Player of the year:
Fabio CANNAVARO (ITA)
Player of the year:
MARTA (BRA)
FIFA Presidential award:
Giacinto FACCHETTI (ITA)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Brazil, Spain
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Italy
FIFA Interactive World Player:
Andries Smit
FIFA World Player GALA 2005
Player of the year:
RONALDINHO (BRA)
Player of the year:
Birgit PRINZ (GER)
FIFA Presidential award:
FRISK Anders (SWE)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
football community of Iquitos (Peru)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Ghana
FIFA Interactive World Player:
Chris Bullard
FIFA World Player GALA 2004
Player of the year:
RONALDINHO (BRA)
Player of the year:
Birgit PRINZ (GER)
FIFA Presidential award:
Haiti
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Confederaçao Brasileira de Futebol
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
China PR
FIFA Interactive World Player:
Thiago Carrico de Azevedo
FIFA World Player GALA 2003
Player of the year:
Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA)
Player of the year:
Birgit PRINZ (GER)
FIFA Presidential award:
The Iraqi Football Community
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Fans of Glasgow Celtic FC (SCO)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Bahrain
FIFA World Player GALA 2002
Player of the year:
RONALDO (BRA)
Player of the year:
Mia HAMM (USA)
FIFA Presidential award:
Parminder Nagra (ENG)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Football communities of Japan and Korea Republic
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Senegal
FIFA World Player GALA 2001
Player of the year:
LUIS FIGO (POR)
Player of the year:
Mia HAMM (USA)
FIFA Presidential award:
Marvin Lee (TRI)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Honduras
Best Mover of the Year:
Costa Rica
FIFA World Player GALA 2000
Player of the year:
Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Lucas RADEBE (RSA)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Netherlands
Best Mover of the Year:
Nigeria
FIFA World Player GALA 1999
Player of the year:
RIVALDO (BRA)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
New Zealand’s football community
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Slovenia
FIFA World Player GALA 1998
Player of the year:
Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
The national associations of Iran, the USA and Northern Ireland
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Croatia
FIFA World Player GALA 1997
Player of the year:
RONALDO (BRA)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Irish spectators of the World Cup preliminary match versus Belgium, Jozef Zovinec (Slovak amateur player), Julie FOUDY (USA)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Yugoslavia
FIFA World Player GALA 1996
Player of the year:
RONALDO (BRA)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
George WEAH (LBR)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
South Africa
FIFA World Player GALA 1995
Player of the year:
George WEAH (LBR)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Jacques Glassmann (FRA)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Jamaica
FIFA World Player GALA 1994
Player of the year:
ROMARIO (BRA)
Top Team of the Year Award:
Brazil
Best Mover of the Year:
Croatia
FIFA World Player GALA 1993
Player of the year:
Roberto BAGGIO (ITA)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Nandor Hidgekuti, (individual award) (HUM), Football Association of Zambia
Top Team of the Year Award:
Germany
Best Mover of the Year:
Colombia
FIFA World Player GALA 1992
Player of the year:
Marco VAN BASTEN (NED)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association
FIFA World Player GALA 1991
Player of the year:
Lothar MATTHAEUS (GER)
FIFA Fair Play Award:
Real Federación Española de Fútbol (Spanish FA), JORGINHO (BRA)

source: http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/awards/gala/index.html

Rau ruled out for BayernWednesday 6 April 2005

Tobias Rau has suffered a setback for Bayern (©Getty Images)
German international left-back Tobias Rau has suffered another setback at FC Bayern München with a serious thigh injury.
Miserable timeThe 23-year-old ruptured a muscle in his left leg while playing for Bayern's second string against FC Augsburg yesterday, and the club do not expect him back before the end of the season. It caps a miserable period for Rau, who could be leaving the Olympiastadion in the summer because of limited opportunities.
Chances limitedRau has failed to establish himself in the Bayern side since arriving from VfL Wolfsburg in summer 2003 - even after the departure of French veteran Bixente Lizarazu prior to the 2004/05 campaign. Coach Felix Magath initially preferred the right-sided Hasan Salihamidzic at left-back before Lizarazu returned six months later and was restored to the team.
Lahm returnTo make matters worse for Rau, who has been capped seven times, his fellow German international Philipp Lahm is due to return to Bayern next season after a successful loan at VfB Stuttgart. It is also believed that the 35-year-old Lizarazu will stay another year.
©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved.

source: http://www.uefa.com/news/newsid=293260,printer.htmx

Gerd Muller

Not only is the name Gerhard "Gerd" Muller still synonymous with the model striker par excellence, but the remarkable records set by Der Bomber still remain unchallenged today. The Bayern Munich and West Germany predator scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and 68 times in 62 internationals, milestones no other player is ever likely to equal. And all that despite singing "A football game is far from easy, goals never come cheaply," in his brief, and regrettable, foray into the world of popular music with the track Dann macht es bum. Nevertheless, at the dusk of his illustrious striking career, Muller could look back on a plethora of special goals. "My most important was certainly the goal that put us up 2-1 in the 1974 World Cup Final in Munich," Muller said recently in his native Nordlingen dialect. The golden era for the West German national team and its domestic league during the early to mid-1970s would have been unthinkable without Muller, as his former team-mate Franz Beckenbauer is quick to underline: "Everything that FC Bayern has become is due to Gerd Muller and his goals."
The powerlifter who built BayernWhen Muller was signed by the then second division outfit Bayern Munich in 1964, club coach Zlatko "Tschik" Cajkovski initially mocked the striker's odd build, quipping: "What am I supposed to do with a weightlifter?" Indeed, Muller's short legs in relation to his barrel-like upper body, and massive 64-centimetre-around thighs did rather lend him the appearance of an Eastern European powerlifter.
However, the small, stocky striker, whose journey to professional football began at the age of nine in his hometown of Nordlingen, around one and a half hours by car from Munich, would enjoy a meteoric rise to the top. By the time he was 16, Muller had progressed through a variety of school and junior teams and the youth ranks of TSV Nordlingen. In the 1962/63 campaign, he scored an unbelievable 180 goals for his club, attributing his strength to his mother's potato salad.
Under Cajkovski, Muller was forced to languish on the bench for ten games before the coach relented to the pressure of the then Bayern President Wilhelm Neudecker and introduced the youngster into the team. On his league debut in October 1964, Muller scored twice against FC Freiburg, laying the foundation for an outstanding career. Cajkovski even began referring to him more affectionately as "short, fat Muller."
In 1965, Muller, Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer, the trio who would later earn Bayern global recognition, inspired the club to promotion to the Bundesliga. The club finished third in their first season in the top flight and lifted the DFB Cup, a feat they would repeat in 1967, 1969 and 1971. Bayern Munich became national champions for the first time in 1969, before claiming a hat-trick of titles in 1972, 1973 and 1974. The Munich club also won their first international honour in 1967 with the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The dream team then went on to win the UEFA European Cup three times in succession from 1974 to 1976, crowning their incredible run of conquests with the Intercontinental Cup title.
Without Gerd Muller, this glorious era would have been inconceivable. Muller was the club's top scorer every season from 1964/65 to 1977/78, and the Bundesliga's leading marksman on no less than seven occasions. In 1971/72, he netted 40 goals, a threshold no other player has reached since.
German marksmanIt was only a matter of time before the prolific goal-getter came to the attention of national team coach Helmut Schon, and he duly made his senior international debut in 1966 in a 2-0 away win over Turkey. At the 1970 FIFA World Cup TM in Mexico, he finished as the ten-goal top scorer and forged a formidable strike partnership with Uwe Seeler. Muller still emphasizes the significance of the competition today: "That tournament was even more important for me than 1974. We had an outstanding team then, even if many consider our 1972 European Championship team to be the best."
Muller celebrated UEFA European Championship glory in 1972 after West Germany overcame the USSR in the final, before going on to score the incredible winning goal in the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final victory over the Netherlands. Der Bomber recalls: "The ball came into the area from Rainer Bonhof. I ran forward with two Dutch players then checked back because the pass was behind me. The ball jumped off my left foot, I turned a little and suddenly it was in," he beams, recreating the scene that unfolded in the 43rd minute in Munich's Olympiastadion. Muller announced his retirement from international football after becoming a world champion at the age of 28. The story has always circulated that this was in response to the players' wives being banned from the celebratory banquet after the Final. However, Muller is happy to clarify the matter: "I told coach Schon three days before the Final that I was retiring. He asked me to hold back on making the announcement until after the match. That was it. There was nothing else." Highs and lowsMuller accepted a lucrative contract to play in the USA in 1979, where he aimed to carve out a second career after Bayern coach Pal Csernai informed him he was no longer in his plans and began substituting him for the first time in his career. It was the first time Muller had ever been sold. On 6 March 1979, Muller signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a professional club in the North American Soccer League (NASL).
With his playing career over, Muller descended into deep crisis. The transition from the pinnacle of popularity to everyday life did not come easy to him. Beside the occasional autograph signing or celebrity match, he did not know how to occupy himself if he was not sat in front of the television for hours on end. His drinking worsened. "I ruined my life," Muller now admits.
But fortunately, his friends from Bayern, notably coach Uli Hoeness, helped him to get back on his feet. He was then offered a contract by his former club in 1992; initially to look after sponsors, scout for talent and coach strikers and goalkeepers. Later he became a youth coach and first team assistant coach. Muller also acquired his 'A' coaching badge in 1992 and became head coach of the Bayern amateur team in the regional league in 1995/96. Today, he is in full control of his life and has found contentment: "It does not get any better than being at Bayern," he says proudly.
At the 40th anniversary celebration of the Bundesliga in August 2003, Muller was honoured as an outstanding sporting personality in the competition's history. More than a thousand invited guests in Koln's Coloneum rose to their feet, and applauded to pay homage to the man who made such a defining contribution to German football history.
The honour sits alongside numerous other instances of recognition the striker accumulated in his career. Aged 21, he was first voted German Player of the Year in 1967, before recapturing the title two years later. In 1970, he became the first German to be crowned European Footballer of the Year after winning the top scorer award at Mexico 1970. Three appearances in FIFA Select XIs (1971, 1972, 1973) and one nomination in a UEFA Select XI (1973) were further proof of his exceptional status. Alongside his sporting awards, Muller also received the Silver Bay Leaf in 1967 and the Federal Cross of Merit in 1977. In May 1998, he was awarded the FIFA Order of Merit. More recently, Muller represented the city of Munich as one of the twelve ambassadors for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in his homeland.

source: http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=174790/bio.html

Fritz Walter

"The city of Kaiserslautern was founded by Fritz Walter," a schoolboy's essay once claimed. The assertion was, of course, incorrect as the Rhineland-Palatinate town traces its origins back to early medieval times, but the young lad's mistake was an understandable one. The player has become something of a mythic figure not only in footballing terms, but also as a symbol of rebirth and vindication for post-war Germany.
A sporting ambassador for Germany's re-emergence into the world community, Walter was team captain and on-field lieutenant for legendary coach Sepp Herberger in building the 1954 'Miracle of Berne' side that brought home the FIFA World Cup™ to Germany for the first time.
Born in the shadow of the first 'Great War' in Kaiserslautern, he was christened Friedrich Walter, though even as a small boy he was 'Fritz' to all and the name stuck for good. Walter began by kicking a ball in the narrow streets of the city and joined up with 1. FC Kaiserslautern at the tender age of eight. The club recognised the rare talent it had on its hands and young Fritz made his senior debut for their first team at just 17 years of age.
Debut hat-trick and rebuildingGermanyThe player soon began attracting the attention of Germany coach Herberger and won his first cap as a 19-year-old prodigy on 14 July 1940. He announced his arrival on the world scene with a ferocious bang, claiming a remarkable hat-trick in a 9-3 reverse of Romania.
However, as was the case with many fine young footballers of the era, Walter's hugely promising start at both club and international level was halted in its tracks by the outbreak of World War II. Between 1943 and 1950, during what should have been his best years, the playmaker made no international appearances. Conscripted in 1942, he was sent to the Eastern front where he was taken prisoner by the Russians, but unlike many others, Walter was fortunate enough to return home and to his football in 1945.
Out of the ashes of war, Herberger set to the work of crafting a new Germany side, one which was re-admitted to international competition in 1950. After a seven-year absence, Walter ran out as captain of his country again on 15 April 1951 for a clash with Switzerland in Zurich. That same year he went on to win the German championship with Kaiserslautern, a feat the Palatinate outfit were to repeat with Walter as skipper two years later. The side became known as 'Walter's 11' in recognition of its most outstanding player.
Swiss testHerberger had built a formidable squad around the Kaiserslautern skipper, which included four of his club-mates, including brother Ottmar. Walter was more than a mere captain and key player though, he was the undisputed stand-in for the determined Herberger, who the player always called 'Chief'.
The international scene was dominated at the time by the apparently invincible Hungarians, who arrived at Switzerland 54 as runaway favourites after a four-year undefeated spell. A wager on the 'Magical Magyars' and their mystical captain Ferenc Puskas looked like a safe one for the first FIFA World Cup in Europe since the end of the war.
Germany opened with a win over Turkey, but Herberger sent out a second-string line-up for the next first round match against Hungary. The side collapsed to a predictably heavy 8-3 defeat against Puskas and co., provoking a barrage of calls for the coach's head. Many now believe that the boss had deeper motives concerning the way the tournament would play out that made defeat at that stage not only acceptable, but perhaps even necessary.
The same was not true against Turkey in the final group match to earn a place in the next round. Walter shone in the 7-2 rout, and again as the Germans beat a strong Yugoslavian side 2-0. The captain buried two penalties in the 6-1 semi-final victory over Austria to set the stage for a re-match with the mighty Hungarians in Berne's Wankdorf Stadium.
'Your weather, Fritz'After a sunny start to the day, it bucketed down on this 4 July in Berne, creating conditions in which battling Fritz Walter could excel. "Your weather, Fritz," Herberger said to his captain on the journey to the stadium. To which the player confidently replied, "I have nothing against it, Chief."
Despite 'Walter's weather,' Hungary raced to a 2-0 lead in the final, with the 'Galloping Major' Puskas opening the scoring after only six minutes and Zoltan Czibor doubling the advantage two minutes later. But Germany, who had been swept aside so convincingly in the group phase, kept their composure and pulled one back through Max Morlock, before Walter swung over a corner for Helmut Rahn to level at 2-2. Hungary continued to enjoy the bulk of possession, but the 'Miracle' only arrived with six minutes remaining as Helmut 'The Boss' Rahn fired Germany into a winning 3-2 lead, and Walter became the first German captain to lift the Jules Rimet Cup.
It was an unlikely and inspiring upset, one that had ramifications far beyond the world of sport. It marked the beginning of a new Germany, restoring national self-belief after the horrors of conflict and inspiring a new determination the length and breadth of the land. Walter came to embody the triumph, and the approachable midfielder was showered with honours afterwards. He became the first footballer ever to earn the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the highest honour in a long list of decorations. He was named Honorary Germany captain and in 1995 was awarded the coveted FIFA Order of Merit.
A footballing grandmasterWalter was a gifted technician, an artist with the ball and a footballing grandmaster of the highest order. He rates as one of the best footballers the world has ever seen, a goal hungry playmaker whose talents were honed by a stupendous work rate and burning ambition. He appeared 379 times for Kaiserslautern, scoring an astonishing 306 goals from midfield, the finest of which came against Wismut Aue as he famously performed a reverse overhead back-heel from a corner.
He consistently found the target at international level too, scoring 33 times in 61 games for Germany. His international career came to an end at the age of 37 in the 1958 FIFA World Cup semi-final against hosts Sweden when he was forced off injured, never to appear again.
Walter remained a beloved figure in Germany, largely thanks to his modesty and down-to-earth personality. He was also notoriously loyal to his hometown club and was never tempted by the many lucrative offers from FC Nancy of France and then Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, for example. He stayed in the Palatinate, turning out for Kaiserslautern in a career that spanned from 1928 to 1959.
In 1985, still in the player's lifetime, the Betzenberg Stadium was renamed after him. The totally renovated Fritz Walter stadium was a 2006 FIFA World Cup venue, and it was the old captain himself who was symbolic leader of the city's bid.
Unfortunately, this true football icon did not witness Germany 2006 at the stadium which bears his name - Fritz Walter died at the age of 81 in the summer of 2002.

source: http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=44747/bio.html

Fate deals bad hand to Deisler

The end of Sebastian Deisler's playing days typified his career. At his best a truly special talent, the 27-year-old has decided that neither his body nor his psyche are up to the demands of professional football.
Surprising timingWhile the decision itself may not have been a surprise, the timing was. Having just come back from another major injury to his right knee, the FC Bayern München midfielder had appeared optimistic but this week he put out a statement reading: "I can't trust my knee any more. I don't enjoy playing football any more." In a hastily-arranged press conference, a visibly-pale Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness had a hard time keeping his poise. "He is one of the best players Germany has ever had," Hoeness said. "I hoped until the end that this was just a bad dream."
Rising starIt is such a contrast from the teenager who first enthralled Germany in helping his national team to the 1998 UEFA European Under-18 Championship final, lost on penalties to the Republic of Ireland. Since the seniors had endured a miserable FIFA World Cup in France, hopes were high for the VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach youngster, who the next season played 17 Bundesliga games and despite relegation earned a move to ambitious Hertha BSC Berlin, where he made his UEFA Champions League debut in 1999. Handed his international bow in February 2000, he was soon hailed as the saviour of German football following the humiliation of UEFA EURO 2000™. Perhaps it was too much pressure, too soon.
Injury strikesMidway through the 2001/02 campaign, Deisler - nicknamed 'Basti Fantasti' - agreed a €9.5m transfer to FC Bayern München, yet disaster struck. He had suffered from injury in the past, but on 18 May 2002 Deisler sustained cartilage damage to his right knee playing a friendly for Germany against Austria. This ruled him out of the World Cup and delayed his Bayern debut until the following February as they completed the German double.
DepressionEven then he was not right, and in November 2003 he began treatment for depression, which Deisler said had started the previous summer. Though he returned within a couple of months, it recurred the following October. Physical injuries were again the partial cause. Torn cruciate ligaments and cartilage, hamstring problems, groin surgery, knee rupture, tendon damage - not entries from a medical dictionary, but some of the complaints experienced by the luckless Deisler.
The endSidelined during UEFA EURO 2004™ due to his troublesome knee - which to date has been operated on five times - history repeated itself to deny him a place at the 2006 World Cup on home soil after cartilage damage sustained in a friendly against Italy. Though he played again in November, with a notably excellent performance against Hamburger SV, he picked up a thigh injury in training in mid-December, and any optimism expressed about his future prospects was not shared by Deisler. "It has been an ordeal for me," he said on announcing his retirement after 36 caps and just 135 Bundesliga appearances spanning nine years - never more than 25 in a single season.
Beckenbauer hopeSome are still envisioning a comeback - his contract remains valid until 2009 and Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said: "Who says that in six months' time he won't feel physically and mentally fit to return? The door is always open for Sebastian Deisler." Fans have also launched a website urging him to carry on, but it seems the heartbreaking tale of Deisler's playing career really is over.
©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved.

source: http://www.uefa.com/news/newsid=498429,printer.htmx