I'm hearing that it's Canavarro, and it's not South Africa.
FIFA goofed in 1998 by giving the Golden Ball to Ronaldo when Zidane was the man.
They goofed again in 2002 by giving it to Oliver Kahn, who had a bad final.
And now they have given it to Zidane, whose headbutt obviously excludes him from such an award
However, I gather commonsense has prevailed and Blatter will give it to Italian skipper Cannavaro, who was superb.
Zidane won't mind that.
His legend is indelible because he represents all the immigrants and all the young people. He represents all the Muslims, all the unemployed blacks in the banlieus, all the Poles whose fathers worked in the coalmines, all the Algerian night watchmen, like his dad, all the train drivers like Thierry Henry's brother, all the Turkish cleaning ladies.
I'm expecting FIFA to disappoint South Africa, where security has always worried them and others.
If that happens it will be tragic for South Africa. But it now appears that the committee don't think they are ready.
However, the USA will not get 2010.
The scary Bush cabal loathes foreigners and they will continue to finance paranoia because it makes money for the billionaires who own the military-industrial complex and both "parties".
Going into the USA these days, it takes four hours to clear customs and immigration, so fans would not go there anyway.
And the USA had the World Cup as recently as 1994.
The distances are too great. Why hold the World Cup in a country where football is not big?
So who will host the 2010 World Cup?
My guess is Mexico or China.