BY SCOTT FRENCH, SENIOR EDITOR Everybody who cares for women’s soccer must be elated that FIFA now will annually honor the world’s top female player. It’s another step on the road for respect, for which the women’s game continues to battle over much of the globe. It seems another nod — as was establishment of the Women’s U-19 World Cup — by the world’s governing body that, yes, women’s soccer is important to those who matter. What a disappointment, then, to view the three names FIFA came up with when announcing the three finalists last week. Mia Hamm. Tiffeny Milbrett. Sun Wen. All are — or have been — terrific players. All would be certain selections for nearly any all-time team. Any consideration over the past, say, three years for the world’s best player had to have included them. But it’s a joke, an insult, a message that FIFA really doesn’t care, that it’s only paying lip-service, that it isn’t paying the least bit attention. We’ve got no argument with Milbrett, a terrific forward who tore up the WUSA in its inaugural season, winning the scoring title and MVP award. She scored goals in all three U.S. national team matches in which Coach April Heinrichs used a full-strength lineup, and she provided experience for a young group that went 0-1-1 on an ice-cold China trek last January. Neither Hamm nor Sun merit consideration, not for their 2001 accomplishments. Hamm showed during the abbreviated U.S. Cup a spark that’s been largely missing from her game, scoring twice in the Yanks’ 4-1 victory over Germany. Her scoring feats notwithstanding, Hamm’s game really isn’t about goals: She’s a superb defensive forward who, when at her best, causes havoc with every run while lifting the games of those around her. Hamm was not at her best in 2001, struggling through a tentative, confidence-sapping WUSA campaign with the lowly Washington Freedom. She wasn’t a first-team selection on the official All-WUSA team, gaining a second-team nod more for her name than anything she accomplished on the field. (She was not part of Soccer America’s All-WUSA teams.) She played in three national-team games, going 90 only against the Germans. Sun, the Golden Ball winner at the ’99 WWC, arrived in 2001 still recuperating from knee surgery, got off to a slow start with the Atlanta Beat, was injured again and played a reserve role, rather effectively, while still hobbling at season’s end. She scored a goal in the WUSA final but missed during the shootout as the Bay Area CyberRays captured the title. Balloting for the Women’s Player of the Year award — as it is with the men’s honor, which has been given since 1991 — is done by national team coaches. FIFA rounded up 72 women’s national team coaches — yes, there are that many, and more — to make their first, second and third selections. How many of them had any knowledge of how Hamm and Sun, or others in women’s soccer, performed in 2001? Not many. And so we get a farce, another meaningless award that represents nothing. How much of the blame does FIFA deserve? Sepp Blatter didn’t choose the finalists, national team coaches did. There are perhaps a dozen or so decent women’s national teams in existence, and only a handful — the U.S., China, Norway, Germany, Brazil, increasingly so Canada, sometimes Nigeria, Sweden on occasion — at the top level. How many of the other 60 know what’s going on in the women’s game? So why is FIFA polling people who aren’t familiar with the territory? Because it’s how they do it for the men. The difference is that the coach of Togo’s or Tonga’s men’s team can watch Zidane, Figo, Rivaldo and the like every day on his satellite dish. Ever try looking for a women’s league match from Sweden or Italy on the dish? (And the men’s coaches don’t always have a clue. This year’s finalists: England’s David Beckham, Portugal’s Luis Figo and Spain’s Raul. All are more deserving of nomination than Hamm or Sun, but where’s English forward Michael Owen, the obvious first choice?) Who should be vying the women’s award? Let’s keep in mind that there were two important competitions during 2001: the European Championship and the WUSA’s first season. Performance in these arenas should carry more weight than any other. We think it should come down to these seven players: MILBRETT: Carried the New York Power to the WUSA final four, scoring 16 goals in 20 games despite inadequate support. She was the deserving MVP winner and remains the world’s best forward. DORIS FITSCHEN: The German warrior, now retired, was the WUSA’s best defender and the critical player in Philadelphia’s playoff run. She also anchored a defense that surrendered only goal in five European Championship matches, gutting out 1-0 victories in the semifinals and final. CHARMAINE HOOPER: Ferocious forward was the biggest reason the Atlanta Beat’s attack was so fearsome, and only Milbrett scored more WUSA goals. A key part of the Canadian renaissance internationally. Only debit: the PK miss in the WUSA final. CLAUDIA MUELLER: Germany’s chief weapon leading to the European Championship, where she scored the most important goal: an overtime strike, off the bench, in the final against Sweden. Mueller also netted a pair in a 3-1 triumph over Sweden that opened the tournament. MAREN MEINERT: The best of the Boston Breakers’ phenomenal attackers, a capable goalscorer (eight) even better at setting up teammates (seven assists). The Germans employed these skills up top — Meinert played every minute of the European Championship, scoring goals against Sweden and Russia. SISSI: The Brazilian playmaker would have finished second had this award existed in 1999 and well out of the running last year. She bounced back with a tremendous WUSA campaign, quieting talk about erosion to her game and providing the Bay Area CyberRays the magic that meant the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. SANDRA SMISEK: Forward-midfielder also was key to Germany’s success at the European Championship, scoring three goals, one of which beat Norway in the semifinals. She had three multi-goal games for the Germans in 2001, one at Euro 2001, another in a 2003 WWC qualifier against England. Our finalists: Milbrett, Fitschen and Mueller. Our winner: Fitschen.