Socceroo Tim Cahill has earned the 2004 OFC Player of the Year Award after a season in which he scored seven goals in five matches for Australia. The 25 year old midfielder has also starred with his clubs. His goal in the FA Cup semifinal against Sunderland led Millwall to the cup final against Manchester United. He now plays for Everton, also in England, and has scored six goals in 25 matches. Aussie teammates Mark Schwarzer and Marco Bresciano were second and third, respectively, in the voting.

On WED 09 MAR 2005, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided to punish Albania and Costa Rica with closed door bans after crowd trouble at recent Men's World Cup qualifiers. Albania's UEFA Group 2 match against the Ukraine on WED 09 FEB 2005 was marred by objects thrown from the stand and a pitch invasion after the final whistle. Because Albania had already been fined and warned for a previous incident, it was fined 40,000 Swiss francs [US$34,500] and ordered to play the next two home matches [against Georgia on SAT 04 JUN 2005 and Kazakhstan on SAT 03 SEP 2005] behind closed doors. Missiles were also thrown at the CONCACAF final round match between Costa Rica and Mexico on the same day, requiring a police escort as the Mexican squad left the pitch. Costa Rica's fine is 20,000 Swiss francs [US$17,000], with the home match against Panama on SAT 26 MAR 2005 also to be played behind closed doors. Both nations can appeal the decisions.

On TUE 15 FEB 2005, the World won, figuratively as well as literally. RONALDINHO's World XI defeated Andriy SHEVCHENKO's European XI by a 6-3 scoreline at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. The match's most important number, of course, was the US$10,000,000 it was expected to pull in for the FIFA/AFC Tsunami Solidarity Fund, going toward efforts to rebuild football infrastructure in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and other nations struck by the tsunamis of SUN 26 DEC 2004. In the match, hometown hero Samuel ETO'O of Cameroon scored twice to put the World up 3-1 by halftime. Gianfranco ZOLA of Italy and David SUAZO of Honduras, a special European guest, then scored early in the second half to equalise. But Henri CAMARA of Senegal was quick to respond, with two goals in just five minutes.

Samuel ETO'O, Cameroon forward, won the 2004 African Player of the Year award, making it his second straight year receiving Africa's top honour. So far this season, he has scored 17 goals for his club, Spain's Barcelona, leading them to the top of the Primera Liga. Eto'o led the voting of CAF member nations with Didier DROGBA of Côte d’Ivoire in second and Jay-Jay OKOCHA of Nigeria in third. Tunisia's Ali BOUMNIJEL was selected as the Goalkeeper of the Year, with his nation's African Cup of Nations title earning them Team of the Year status. Nigeria's Obafemi MARTINS was the Young Player of the Year.

A quick summary of action around the CONCACAF final round on WED 09 FEB 2005. more...

A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on WED 09 FEB 2005. more...

A quick summary of action around the AFC third round on WED 09 FEB 2005. more...

Carlos TÉVEZ of Argentina has been selected as the Best Latin American Footballer of 2004. The 20 year old forward led Argentina to second place in the 2004 Copa América and to Olympic gold at Athens 2004, capping the year with a Copa Sudamericana title with Boca Juniors. It is his second straight time leading the annual poll of journalists conducted by Montevideo newspaper El País. Argentina midfielder Javier MASCHERANO was second, and third place was shared between Brazil's ROBINHO and Argentina's Luis GONZÁLEZ.

Brazil's RONALDINHO tallied 620 points, including 89 out of 302 first place votes, to earn FIFA's World Player of the Year award for 2004. The Barcelona midfielder/forward is the fourth Brazilian to win the title, following ROMÁRIO [1994], RONALDO [1996-7, 2002], and RIVALDO [1999]. France's Thierry HENRY finished second, followed by the Ukraine's Andriy SHEVCHENKO. On the women's side, Birgit PRINZ of Germany won for the second straight year, edging Mia HAMM of the United States and MARTA of Brazil.

At the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year gala in Zürich, Brazil and Haiti received awards for their fundraising friendly in Port-au-Prince on WED 18 AUG 2004. Brazil also received an award as the top ranked team in the FIFA rankings, and China PR jumped from 86th to 54th over the course of the year, during which they advanced to the Asian Cup final, to win the Best Mover award.

Andriy SHEVCHENKO, Ukraine forward, was honoured as the 2004 European Footballer of the Year. His 175 votes led the voting, conducted by France Football magazine, and his 24 goals for AC Milan in the 2003-4 season led Italy's Serie A. Shevchenko is the first to take the Ballon d'Or to the Ukraine since its 1991 independence. DECO of Portugal and his Barcelona teammate, Brazil's RONALDINHO, were second and third respectively in the voting.

The eight surviving Asian teams were drawn into their AFC third round groups on THU 09 DEC 2004. Group 1 features Korea Rep, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan, whilst Group 2 will involve Bahrain, Iran, Japan, and Korea DPR. The matches will be contested between WED 09 FEB-WED 17 AUG 2005, with the top two in each group qualifying for Germany 2006. The third placed teams must then face one another for the right to contest the AFC/CONCACAF playoff.

Iran's Ali KARIMI was awarded the AFC's Player of the Year award on THU 09 DEC 2004, becoming the fourth Iranian to win the honour since its inauguration ten years ago. Karimi's accomplishments include a hat trick in a 4-3 win over Korea Rep in the Asian Cup quarterfinals and a league leading 14 goals for his club, Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates. A'ala HUBAIL of Bahrain and Shunsuke NAKAMURA of Japan were the other finalists. Awards also given include PARK Chu Young of Korea Rep as best youth player, Japan as the team of the year, and Iraq's Adnan HAMD as best coach.

The teams in the AFC third round are Bahrain, Iran, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Rep, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan. They will be drawn into two groups of four on THU 09 DEC 2004. In the CONCACAF final round, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad-Tobago, and the United States will play in a single group. Both rounds begin on WED 09 FEB 2005.

A quick summary of action around the CONCACAF semifinal round on WED 17 NOV 2004. more...

A quick summary of action around CONMEBOL on WED 17 NOV 2004. more...