Looking at the past Ballon d'Or winners, it is not difficult to find that they are either forwards or midfielders, with their excellent performance on the offensive end, or scoring goals or frequent assists, and then won countless honors, becoming the brightest superstar of the year, and winning the highest personal award in football.
Some people may say that the Ballon d'Or winners are mostly attacking players, but aren't Beckenbauer, Summer and Cannavaro all defenders? In fact, in a strict sense, although Beckenbauer and Summerle have the attributes of defenders, they were not known for their roles as pure defenders at that time, and the attributes covered by Beckenbauer's free men naturally do not need to be repeated, And Summer also frequently appears in the midfield position, and the only one who really won the Ballon d'Or as the most authentic defender may be Cannavaro.
Because of this, when people call Cannavaro, they will habitually add the prefix of "Ballon d'Or", because he opened the golden ball era in the true sense of the word, belonging to the defender, is an absolute milestone figure, but unfortunately to this day, there is still no second person who can achieve this achievement.
If it's so difficult for defenders to win the Ballon d'Or, why was Cannavaro able to do it that year? Perhaps, past honors and blurry images cannot bring intuitive feelings to fans, so we may wish to start from another perspective and get a glimpse of Cannavaro's "Golden Ball defender" style - at present, "Pro Evolution Football" has launched a new iconic moment version of Cannavaro, based on the Real Madrid League championship battle on June 17, 2007, which is the year after he won the Ballon d'Or, which can provide us with a valuable example.
From a statistical point of view, Cannavaro is definitely the only one in "Pro Evolution Soccer": 99 jumps, 99 defensive ability, 99 enthusiasm, 98 steals, these four ceiling-level data, and sharp and fierce destroyer style, so that Cannavaro has a very strong impact, many forwards after taking the ball, before they can adjust in time to be easily snatched by Cannavaro, even if the strongest big center, do not dare to easily say that they can fight cannavaro. The speed of 89 and the explosion of 94 allow Cannavaro to easily grasp when facing a speed forward.
In fact, some of the mid-backs also have the same level as Cannavaro in the above key data, but the reason why Cannavaro is called the only one is actually another data that is easily overlooked but very important - the body control of 86. It is this seemingly inconspicuous statistic that makes Cannavaro, although he is a center-back, has an extremely silky handling feel, and looking at the entire Pro Evolution Soccer, the defensive attributes and physical flexibility have reached this level, and it is difficult to find a second.
If you are a Pro Evolution Soccer player, you must have been tortured by the center-back's bulky turn and dribbling, and a little carelessness will lead to the ball that has just been snatched and easily counter-grabbed by the opponent. Put into the real world, the most vivid example is manchester United captain Maguire aircraft carrier U-turn like turtle speed, often for the opponent to send a reverse assist, people can't help but sigh: poor Ma Kui! In the moments of Cannavaro's body, similar situations will hardly appear, and those who are slightly more skilled can even show off the opposing striker.
As we can see, Cannavaro in Pro Evolution Soccer has a good enough defense, fast enough speed and a flexible body, and it is difficult not to be called an absolute single center-back. In the real world, it is not surprising that Cannavaro was as inexplicable as "Pro Evolution Soccer" showed, becoming the first full-time defender to win the Ballon d'Or.