KAKA is player of the year, winning the prestigious Ballon d'Or. The winner of the France Football magazine award was determined by 96 international journalists, among whom was Al-Ahram Weekly 's Inas Mazhar, the first female journalist among the jury in the history of the contest since its creation 52 years ago. The jury voted for players on a shortlist of 50. For the first time, players from non-European clubs were eligible. Born Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, succeeds Italy's World Cup-winning captain and defender Fabio Cannavaro as holder of the Golden Ball. Two years earlier, the title went to another Brazilian, Barcelona's Ronaldinho. The 25-year-old played a starring role in AC Milan's glorious European Champions League campaign, scoring 10 goals and setting up the winner for Filippo Inzaghi in the final against Liverpool. He received 444 points in the France Football vote, way ahead of Manchester United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, with 277 points. said: "This is very special for me -- it culminates an astonishing year for me. It's 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." Born in the capital, Brasilia, started playing with Sao Paulo before moving to Europe and joining AC Milan in 2003. He has been capped 54 times for his country and has scored 19 goals. He was in the Brazilian World Cup squads in 2002 and 2006. AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said: "It's a fantastic story. We have had [Gianni] Rivera, [Marco] van Basten won it three times, [Andrei] Shevchenko and now there is ." Galliani dismissed any notion that the Brazilian might be tempted away from the San Siro. "He will stay at Milan -- I can guarantee it." The top five players in the Golden Ball awards, announced by France Football magazine are in order: , AC Milan, 444 points; Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, 277; Lionel Messi, FC Barcelona, 255; Didier Drogba, Chelsea, 108; Andrea Pirlo, AC Milan.
