BERLIN, July 10 (UPI) -- Zinedine Zidane, who helped France reach the World Cup finals, was selected the winner of the Golden Ball, symbolic of the tournament's most valuable player.
FIFA, soccer's governor body, announced Monday that Zidane won one of the closest votes in the history over the Golden Ball, edging Italy's Fabio Cannavaro, whose team beat France in the World Cup final 5-3 on penalty kicks. Italy's Andrea Pirlo was third in the voting of media covering the World Cup.
Zidane, who had played extremely well in what he said would be his final international tournament, scored France's goal on a first-half penalty kick against Italy, but missed the last 10 minutes of overtime and the decisive shootout as he was red-carded for head-butting Italy's Marco Materazzi.
Cannavaro anchored a tight Italian defense that allowed just two goals -- one an own goal -- during the tournament and trailed just 12 minutes in its seven-game run.
The Times of London said Zidane polled 2,012 points in the vote, while Cannavaro had 1,977 points and Pirlo 715.
