Ranked eighteenth was the Portuguese midfielder Deco.
After failing to receive a call-up from the Brazilian national team, Deco chose to acquire Portuguese citizenship in 2004 and represent Portugal instead. That same year, he achieved an outstanding result by finishing second in the Ballon d'Or voting.
However, after joining Barcelona, part of Deco's spotlight was inevitably taken by Ronaldinho, and later shared even more with Messi. If Portugal had not performed so well this year, his ranking might have fallen below Messi's.
Barcelona has always been extremely adept at maximizing player popularity and exposure. By comparison, Real Madrid often struggles to freely leverage one player's fame to elevate another, which also makes it difficult for them to cultivate true homegrown youth stars.
Seventeenth place went to AC Milan's Brazilian attacking midfielder, Kaká!
This young star radiated sunshine and confidence. After Shevchenko's departure, he gradually took on the burden of AC Milan's attacking core and delivered performances that exceeded expectations. As South America's carefully groomed next Brazilian superstar, many believed he still had room to go even further.
His popularity in Serie A rivaled Su Hang's in La Liga. Just a year earlier, Su Hang wouldn't even have been considered worthy of comparison with him.
Sixteenth place was claimed by Barcelona defender Carles Puyol.
As the starting center back of the World Cup–winning team, there was absolutely no controversy surrounding Puyol's ranking.
Fifteenth place belonged to German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Over the past year, Lehmann had surprised the entire world. Whether at Arsenal or with the German national team, his performances were nothing short of remarkable. Being able to keep the Lion King, Oliver Kahn, on the bench made this ranking fully deserved.
Fourteenth place went to Italy's sleepy-eyed midfield maestro, Pirlo.
After a frustrating spell at Inter Milan, Pirlo found his springtime at AC Milan and was steadily walking the path toward becoming the world's best midfielder. Many even believed that his partnership with Gennaro Gattuso formed one of the strongest midfield combinations in the world—
especially after Zinedine Zidane's retirement.
Unfortunately, Zidane's retirement lasted only a single month.
Thirteenth place went to Manchester United's wide player, Portugal's new king, Cristiano Ronaldo—known as "Little Ronaldo."
This marked his third consecutive year on the list, and compared to last year, his ranking had climbed even higher. Even the woman accompanying him had changed—from an unknown figure last year to a well-known model this year.
Yet regrettably, he still could not sit in the same row as Su Hang.
Because compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's progress, Su Hang's growth over the past year had been even greater.
Twelfth place went to Real Madrid's guardian of the goal, Casillas.
As the winner of the World Cup Best Goalkeeper award, Saint Casillas, backed by Real Madrid's five trophies this year and the national team's World Cup triumph, officially surpassed his longtime rival Buffon to temporarily claim the title of the world's number one goalkeeper!
He would become another peak representative of smaller-built goalkeepers.
Real Madrid had never favored smaller goalkeepers, yet paradoxically, the club had always maintained a tradition of producing world-class goalkeepers of this type.
Eleventh place went to the Cheetah, Samuel Eto'o.
On the red carpet, he spoke passionately about El Clásico, boldly stating that if he had taken part in that match, the winner would never have been Real Madrid.
Unfortunately, such remarks did nothing to boost his Ballon d'Or ranking.
As Eto'o passed by, the atmosphere at the venue suddenly changed.
Because next to appear would be the ten strongest players in world football over the past year!
"He is the giant elephant from Africa! Rising in France, made famous in England—he is the terrifying beast that strikes fear into Stamford Bridge!"
"His physique is unmatched, his physical battles unstoppable!"
"No amount of flowery language can fully describe the shock he brings, but when I say this next line, you'll understand exactly what level of player he is!"
He is the Premier League's The Elephant!"
"Let us welcome Didier Drogba onto the red carpet with a round of applause!"
Boom!
Thunderous applause erupted as flashes lit up the scene.
The Elephant!
This player named Drogba must be incredibly strong!
Next to appear was Germany's somersaulting forward, Klose.
Without Su-Hang, he would have been the best striker of this World Cup. But this did nothing to diminish Klose's rise. In fact, it was precisely because of his association with Su-Hang that his ranking was so high this year.
In terms of riding the hype, this was every bit as effective as the "The Elephant" title—perfectly timed.
Seventh place went to Italy's Buffon.
Although Buffon slightly lost out to Casillas in this year's comparison, traditional perceptions still favored towering, classic goalkeepers. Combined with Serie A's lingering prestige—still stronger than other leagues at this stage—Buffon might represent the final afterglow of Serie A's once-vaunted "mini World Cup."
This so-called prestige refers to public perception, which is often lagging.
Within professional circles, many believed that Serie A had already begun collapsing after Real Madrid signed Ronaldo. Its actual competitiveness no longer matched La Liga, and might not even surpass the Premier League.
And this summer, Serie A officially fell apart.
Take Nokia's collapse as an example. To most people, it seemed to happen overnight, but in reality, its decline had started long before. The same applies to Korean cars—their downturn may appear to have occurred just last year or this year, but their growth had already stagnated domestically several years ago.
Japanese cars are another case. Even this year, their sales figures remain high. Yet compared to their former growth rates and the overall domestic auto market, their dominance has been rapidly eroding.
Once such a collapse begins, it is almost impossible to reverse, accelerating into an ever-faster downward slide. Ordinary people, however, tend to notice only the final moment when everything crumbles.
In football, the FIFA World Player of the Year award follows a similar pattern.
The award has a significant lag, as it draws on opinions from football professionals around the globe. Strong operability is one reason; regional delays are another.
This lag has little to do with how fast information spreads—even in the age of a fully connected internet, it still exists. Because people are nostalgic by nature.
Accepting that a beloved star is no longer the best in the world, no longer at the very top, is a painful and lengthy process. Even when young stars have long surpassed legendary figures in pure performance, those legends can continue to dominate prestige and awards for years.
Many young players feel this is unfair.
But they, too, will grow old. And when they do—when they see new youngsters clearly surpassing them yet still being suppressed by their own generation—they will no longer feel it is unfair.
From a "conservation" perspective, the honors young players lose early in their careers will be compensated later, when their form declines near the end of their playing days.
The Ballon d'Or, however, suffers less from this lag effect. With more experts involved and greater professional concentration, many players tend to win the Ballon d'Or first, and only claim the FIFA World Player of the Year award several years later.
...
(35Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser