Golden Ball Double for Milan?
By: Martha | September 25th, 2007
The Kaka-obsessed Spanish press are going way out on a limb today, prediction that the object of their affection will win this year’s Ballon d’Or when it is handed out on December 2. Even though the ballots have not even gone out yet, the people at AS seem quite sure they’re right about this one, presumably because of the endless praise the Brazilian receives from footballers at all corners of the earth. Additionally, According to AS, the award will be slightly modified this year, recognizing for the first time the best player in the world rather than the best one in a Europen league. (It apparently originally recognized the best European footballer, though that changed in 1995 when Liberia’s George Weah took home the trophy.)
In addition to opening the balloting up to include footballers from every league in the world, another change to this year’s ceremony could be the inclusion of a special, lifetime-achievement-style award. As far as I can tell this has in no way been confirmed, but AS are reporting that Paolo Maldini could receive his very own Golden Ball this year, not because he’ll be voted winner, but simply in recognition of his extraordinary career with Milan and Italy. Which, if true, is completely awesome, particularly since France Football (the magazine behind the award) didn’t do anything remotely this cool for Zidane when he retired.
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