The winner of the prize was determined by 96 international journalists who 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, Kaka succeeds Italy’s World Cup-winning captain and defender Fabio Cannavaro as holder of the Golden Ball. Barcelona’s Ronaldinho won the trophy two years ago.

The 25-year-old Kaka played a starring role in AC Milan’s triumphant 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.

Kaka 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 ACMilan. It’s great to be part of a team that wins.”

Kaka’s brother, Digao, was in Paris for the awards ceremony and paid tribute to his brother.

“It’s very emotional for me to be here, to see my brother receive this trophy, and to know that he is the best makes me proud,” he said.

Kaka’s wife, Caroline, and his mother, Cristina, were also among the guests. Kaka’s mother said: “This is a great achievement. Since he was young I saw our son dedicate himself.”

Born in the capital, Brasilia, Kaka started playing with Sao Paulo before moving to Europe and joining ACMilan 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 Kaka.”

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 GOLDEN BALL TOP THIRTY

The top 30 players in the Golden Ball awards, announced yesterday by France Football magazine

1 Kaka, AC Milan, 444 points

2 Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, 277

3 Lionel Messi, FC Barcelona, 255

4 Didier Drogba, Chelsea, 108

5 Andrea Pirlo, AC Milan, 41

6 Ruud van Nistelrooy, Real Madrid, 39

7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Inter Milan, 31

8 Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal, 27

9 Robinho, Real Madrid, 24

10 Francesco Totti, AS Roma, 20

11 Frederic Kanoute, Sevilla, 19

12 Ronaldinho, Barcelona, 18

13 Steven Gerrard, Liverpool, 17

14 Juan Roman Riquelme, Boca Juniors-Villarreal, 15

15 Daniel Alves, Sevilla, 14

16 Filippo Inzaghi, AC Milan, 12

17 Franck Ribery, Marseille-Bayern Munich, 10

18 Paolo Maldini, AC Milan, 8

19 Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus; Petr Cech, Chelsea; Gennaro Gattuso, AC Milan; Thierry Henry, Arsenal-FC Barcelona; Clarence Seedorf, AC Milan: 7

24 Fabio Cannavaro, Real Madrid; Michael Essien, Chelsea: 5

26 Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 4

27 Iker Casillas, Real Madrid; Rogerio Ceni, Sao Paulo: 3

29 Younis Mahmoud, Al-Gharafa, 2

30 Dimitar Berbatov, Spurs; Samuel Eto’o, FC Barcelona; Ryan Giggs, Manchester U; Guillermo Ochoa, America Mexico; Carlos Tevez, West Ham-Manchester U; Robin van Persie, Arsenal: 1.

From : TheTimes.co.uk