Italian World Cup winning captain, Fabio Cannavaro will finish the year on a high after being named as FIFA World Player of the Year at the Zurich's opera house where the ceremony was held.

Cannavaro, who is the first defender to win the coveted price, collected 498 points ahead of players such as Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry. Speaking at the ceremony, Cannavaro dedicated the award to Italian football and hoped that this will provide the much needed impetus to once again regain the lost name.

"I'd like to dedicate this to Italian football overall. Everyone knows the problems we had before the World Cup. It's time for Italian football to grow up and move on and look forward to the future", he said.

Cannavaro was speaking about the bribery scandal that had rocked Italian football, which ultimately led to Juventus being relegated to the second division while AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were docked points.

This award will surely be embarrassing for those who had voiced disagreements last month when Cannavaro was named as the European Footballer of the Year. Cannavaro felt that he was vindicated following criticism from some sections of press who wanted a more attacking footballer to win the award.

"Now, all the people who spoke before, when I won the Golden Ball, have shut their mouths now the coaches and players from national teams have given me this prize and this recognition", he said on Real Madrid's website.

Cannavaro praised his former Juventus teammate, Zinedine Zidane, whose No.5 shirt at Real Madrid is now worn by the Italian captain. "When I first came to Real everybody asked me what it meant to be wearing the same shirt. I can only say now what I said then, it is an honour to wear the same number as such a great player", Cannavaro said.

Meanwhile Brazilian midfielder Marta was given the women's World Player of the Year. This was the third time that the 20-year old was nominated after finishing third in 2004 and runner-up last year.