PARIS , France -- AC Milan 's Brazilian midfielder Kaka has been named European player of the year , lifting France Football 's Ballon d'Or award . Kaka has already claimed all of the game 's major prizes . His success comes two years after his fellow countryman , Barcelona 's Ronaldinho , claimed the award . The 25-year-old Kaka was a major factor in AC Milan 's triumphant Champions League campaign . The runner-up was Manchester United 's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo with Barcelona 's Argentinian midfielder Lionel Messi finishing third . `` This is very special for me - it culminates an astonishing year for me , '' Kaka said . `` 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 . '' At 25 years old , he has already won all the game 's major prizes , individually and collectively . He was part of Brazil 's 2002 World Cup winning squad , although he was limited to just 19 minutes as a substitute against Costa Rica . He was top scorer in last season 's Champions League , helping Milan to avenge their loss to Liverpool in the 2005 final . He won the Italian domestic title in his first season at Milan having joined from Brazilians Sao Paulo for $ 8.5 million , a sum that Milan president Silvio Berlusconi then described as peanuts . E-mail to a friend .
Brazilian Kaka is named European player of the year . The AC Milan player is chosen ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester Utd . - July 4 :