The Ballon D'Or award for the World footballer of the year- as voted by 96 journalists around the world and one alien - was presented today to AC Milan midfielder Kaka. The religious Brazilian earned 444 voting points beating out 49 other colleagues including the pride of Portugal and Manchester United Christian Ronaldo who won 277 points and Barcelona’s Argentinean striker Lionel Messi and his 255 points.

Are we done giggling about his name? 

Rounding out the top five were Didier Drogba and Andrea Pirlo. The Ivory Coast national and Chelsea player Drogba earned 108 points while Kaka’s teammate and Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo managed to bag 41 points.

The bottom five were: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Netherlands with 39 points); Zlatan Ibrahimovich (Internazionale Milano, Sweden with 31 points); Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal, Spain with 27 points. Also affectionately known as ‘Cesc’); Robinho (Real Madrid, Brazil with 24 points) and Francesco Totti (AS Roma, Italy with 21 points.)

Let the debate begin!

Anyone who watches Serie A and AC Milan knows that Kaka is money in the bank. That he won should not freak anyone out.

Regardless of what one may think of the top 10, this is a fine group of players and I’m not about to besmirch the result. However, it was interesting to see Pirlo make the top five. Should soccer fans be surprised?

No.

When we think of midfielders today it’s usually the powerful and flashy midfielders who tend to get all the attention.

Pirlo is a different cat altogether. He is indeed an elegant and exquisite talent. There's a certain understated and subtle brilliance to his game.

Not typically overly physical, Pirlo's genius can literally be overlooked by the casual fan. He is technically excellent and his vision on the field superb. He's what we call a classic holding midfielder that sets the pace of a game.

Pirlo does not seem to be doing much on the field but in reality he is at the center of everything. In many ways, he reminds fans of prototypical midfielders of high mastery like Michel Platini. I’m not suggesting Pirlo is at the level of the great midfielders (yet) but he is in the same mould. 

Milan is endowed with two of the most unheralded and brilliant midfielders in world soccer: Clarence Seedorf (who incidentally won nine points in the voting) and Andrea Pirlo. Add the devastating Kaka and it's not hard to see why in a one game playoff for all the marbles AC Milan is a powerhouse.

Domestically the story changes a little for Milan. Battling for a Scudetto, well, that's another story and not the point of the piece here.

That all being said, it was nice to see Pirlo nominated and received votes.

Notes: 35 players received at least one point. The English Premier League led with 11 clubs, followed by La Liga with ten clubs and Serie A with nine. Of the players in the top ten, Italian clubs led with four mentions, Spain and England with three each.

Of the same 35 players Italians led the list with seven, Brazilians with five, Argentina and Netherlands with three while France, England and Spain had two each. The list included four players from Africa.

Rest of the list:

Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla, Mali) - 19 points; Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil) - 18 points; Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England) - 17 points ; Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal/Boca Juniors, Argentina) - 15 points; Daniel Alves (Sevilla, Brazil) - 14 points; Filippo Inzaghi (AC Milan, Italy) - 12 points ; Franck Ribery (Marseille/Bayern Munich, France) - 10 points ; Paolo Maldini (AC Milan, Italy) - 8 points
Seven Points: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy) Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Republic), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Thierry Henry (Arsenal/Barcelona, France) and Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan, Netherlands)
Five points: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy) and Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana)
Four points: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England)
Three points: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Spain) and Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Two points: Younis Mahmoud (Al-Gharafa, Iraq)
One point: Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur, Bulgaria), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United, Wales), Guillermo Ochoa (Club America, Mexico), Carlos Tevez (West Ham United/Manchester United, Argentina) and Robin van Persie (Arsenal, Netherlands)
No votes: Eric Abidal (Lyon/Barcelona, France), David Beckham (Real Madrid/Los Angeles Galaxy, England), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid, Mali), Diego (Werder Bremen, Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen/Bayern Munich, Germany), Florent Malouda (Lyon/Chelsea, France), Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic, Japan), Ricardo Quaresma (Porto, Portugal), Raul (Real Madrid, Spain), Paul Scholes (Manchester United, England), Luca Toni (Fiorentina/Bayern Munich, Italy), Kolo Toure (Arsenal, Côte d'Ivoire), José Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid/Liverpool, Spain) et David Villa (Valencia, Spain)

And then there were two… The ink has barely dried from the discussions of England’s European Championships debacle, courtesy of Croatia who cruelly drove the final stake into the coffin, and fate has brought them together again.

Last Sunday, the results from the preliminary 2010 World Cup draw revealed that both teams are now in Group 6, together with Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra.

The draw, attended by South African president Thabo Mbeki and other soccer dignitaries, was beamed live to more than 170 countries worldwide. Europe were assigned 13 spots, Africa six (including the hosts), Asia and South America four, and CONCACAF three.

It is automatic qualification for winners of the nine European groups while the other four spots are left to the eight best runners-up to compete in a playoff. When the England-Croatia pairing was announced, there was an audible gasp from the audience. Not too sure if it came from the England camp but definitely the mention of Croatia these days is tantamount to opening up old wounds.

Since England degraded itself into an unseeded position, beggars can’t be choosers. If they clash with any of the traditional powerhouses like Italy, France or Germany, it will take a brave heart to believe they can make the trip to South Africa - adios to the “golden generation” as they slip into oblivion without any major honors. As luck would have it, they face-off with Croatia who is ranked 10th in the world. On paper, that should be cause for celebration, barring the memories from the fateful night at Wembley a few days ago.

Taking a close look at Group 6, most will agree it is not easy. If England set their sights on World Cup qualification, then they should start their preparations right away. Speaking of “easy”, England must have looked wistfully at Group 2 with Greece and Switzerland as main threats accompanied by minnows Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg.

Over the weekend, we have Michael Owen expressing his thoughts about England. He was presumptuous (bordering on arrogance), to imply that no Croatian player would be good enough to play for England. Just because he got injured and was spared the flaming from the press doesn’t give him a license to utter rubbish. I am disappointed to see a supposedly intelligent player think in this manner. He needs to get a reality check before he can represent England again, top scorer or not. What is worrying is that Owen is not alone and his comments typify the superiority complex of the England team.

Delusions about their greatness while feeling that Croatia got lucky will not get England anywhere. Croatia merit the accolades and respect, having defeated England twice (3-2 and 2-0) in Euro 08 qualifying matches. In fact, since their independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, this East European nation has been a force to reckon with. Their impressive, but short, footballing history will put England to shame.

Croatia finished third in the 1998 World Cup, with Davor Suker clinching the Golden Boot award. They also qualified for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups without dropping a qualifying match. An undefeated record in all competitive matches played on home ground since 1994 still stands today. If England, the founders of modern football, can put together such steady performances on a regular basis, at least fans sporting England jerseys can hold up their heads higher.

To the egocentric players, how about looking in from the other side of the fence? How many of you will be able to step into the Croatia team? From what I have seen, the Croatians have a great first touch and dazzling movement that left England chasing shadows. They made simple yet effective short passes - which is the way this game should be played. With the exception of Joe Cole, who made an effort to keep the ball on the ground, the rest prefers to send the ball into the air at the slightest opportunity, unleashing long range missiles to the front line relentlessly, hoping for the best.

Players like Eduardo, Modric, and Corluka, would be welcome into any England team. Eduardo will certainly give Owen a run for his money, being younger, quicker, less injury-prone, strong in the air, etc. Maybe England has never heard of all these players or have seen them in the Premier League, thus assuming none of them are on par. That is a simplistic thought.

I am beginning to feel that England overachieved under Erikkson. Although the buck rightfully starts with the manager, the harsh reality is that most English players thrive only domestically, in the junior school of English football. This bunch of prima-donnas can talk tough about “blood and guts,” but when it comes to the crunch, they lack the technique and skills. Most importantly, they do not know how to play as a team.

Besides Croatia, the new coach will do well to consider the strength of the other teams in Group 6. Ukraine cannot be underestimated. They made it to the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup, but missed Euro 2008 by coming in fourth behind Italy, France and Scotland. Andriy Shevchenko scored a goal in the 2-2 draw with France and if he returns to his lethal form as he was for AC Milan, he will be a handful for England.

Belarus is another team with strong technical players. They beat Holland in the euro qualifiers and in the last world cup qualifiers came close to beating Italy away. They step up a gear or two against major teams but tripped over easier opponents. With Alexander Helb in the team (and he isn’t even a key player for Belarus), England should not let their guard down.

As for Kazakhastan, most people will think of the blockbuster movie “Borat.” Not much is known of their footballing abilities but the travelling distance will be a hindering factor. We mustn’t expect our jet-lagged multi-millionaires to be at their best, so this will need some handling. Andorra should be a face-saving grace for England if all else fails. Getting six points from them should be a breeze.

It will be interesting to see who the FA appoints to be the new England coach. Think positive, on the bright side, England may be rejuvenated once the FA get their act together and appoint somebody with the proper credentials and passion. The players can now string more than five passes together, have a winner’s mentality and exact revenge on Croatia for the humiliating defeats.

Yes, I will go to sleep on that thought. Till tomorrow.

It's said that people power always rules. However, this cannot be said true when it comes to India's stature in World Soccer. A country with 1.3 billion people and millions of sports-crazy fans still fails to produce 11 top players who can make India's presence felt on the global arena. The biggest irony is that India is currently languishing at 145th position in the latest FIFA rankings. 

The New England Revolution failed to win the Presidents MLS Cup for the third straight year (fourth since 2002) falling to the Houston Dynamo 2-1 before nearly 40 000 fans at RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington.

In what was expected to be a defensive affair, ended up more wide open as evidenced by Dynamo’s uncharacteristic decision to go from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2 in the late stages of the match.

The Revs to took a 1-0 lead into half time and had their chances to double their lead – once again proving that ball possession is sometimes over rated - but Dynamo striker and Canadian international Dwayne “De Ro” DeRosario headed home the winning goal for Houston after Joseph Ngwenya levelled the score in the 61st. 

 The comeback capped a spirited and entertaining second half that witnessed shoddy defensive play in spots, open play and a stunning point blank save by Dyanmo keeper Pat Onstad (another Canadian international) in the 87th minute off a Jeff Larentowicz shot.

It’s not like the Revolution weren’t without some luck. Khano Smith was fortunate for not being sent off for what amounted to a possibly dangerous head butt to a Dynamo defender Waibel following a fair – challenge - though Waibel did embellish a little.  

For the Revolution this is an all too familiar bad broken record. While on one side they represented the continued success of Boston-based professional teams, the comparisons to the Buffalo Bills (hey, why do the Minnesota Vikings get a pass?) are now inevitable.

There is no Bambino curse on the Revolution. Last I checked, Babe Ruth played baseball and not soccer. The bottom line is that the Revs could not withstand the offensive prowess of the Dynamo.

That's why the Houston Dyanmo are deserved champions for the second time in a row.

 
Scoring Line 

NE: Twellman 20’

HOU: Ngwenya 61’, De Rosario 74’

Lineups

NE: Reis, Heaps, Parkhurst, John, Thompson, Larentowicz, Joseph, Smith, Ralston (Dorman 78’), Twellman, Noonan

HOU: Onstad, Waibel, Cochrane, Robinson, Barrett, Mullan, De Rosario, Mulrooney, Davis, Jaqua, Ngwenya (Holden 80’)