Kaka awarded the Ballon d'Or

AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka has been named as France Football's Player of the Year winning the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.

He succeeds Italy's World Cup winning captain and defender Fabio Cannavaro and comes two years after the last Brazilian winner of the trophy, Barcelona's Ronaldinho.

The 25-year-old Kaka notably played a starring role in AC Milan's triumphant Champions League campaign.

Second place when to Manchester United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo with Barcelona's Argentinian midfielder Lionel Messi placing third.

'This is very special for me - it culminates an astonishing year for me,' Kaka said.

'It is the top prize around and the only way to win something like this is to play for a team like AC Milan. It's great to be part of a team that wins.'

Previous winners include Stanley Matthews, Alfredo di Stefano, George Best, Dennis Law, Johan Cryuff, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Kevin Keegan, Zinedine Zidane, Michael Owen and Roberto Baggio.

Voting results:
1 Kaka (BRA), 444 pts
2 Cristiano Ronaldo (POR), 277 pts
3 Lionel Messi (ARG), 255 pts
4 Didier Drogba (CIV), 108 pts
5 Andrea Pirlo (ITA), 41 pts
6 Ruud van Nistelrooy (NED), 39 pts
7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (SWE), 31 pts
8 Cesc Fabregas (ESP), 27 pts
9 Robinho (BRA), 24 pts
10 Francesco Totti (ITA), 20 pts.