

Oh, Those Wacky Spaniards
By: Martha | December 28th, 2006
Spanish newspaper Marca appeared on newsstands with a shocking headline this morning: The votes for the FIFA World Player of the Year were miscounted and Zidane actually won, beating out both Ronaldinho and the man who was wrongly handed the trophy, wor Fabio Cannavaro. According to the paper, a second ceremony will be held this weekend at which Zidane will be given the award he was so cruelly denied. Poor Canna.
JUST KIDDING! Oh ho ho that’s rich! Turns out “December 28″ is European for “April Fool’s Day” (They call it Day of the Innocent, which is sort of sad — a holiday dedicated to taking advantage of those too naive to know better?), and the whole thing was just an elaborate joke. By cleverly choosing a story that didn’t affect Spanish football, Marca’s editors definitely had people going for a while — nobody was sure it was a joke until a FIFA rep stepped up and slowly explained the whole thing, using very small words we all could understand. (Marca’s blockbuster story about David Beckham moving to Barca, meanwhile, was laughed off from the moment it appeared — and not just because it was written by “Jack Daniels.” What would Barca DO with Beckham? Make him clean boots?)
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