Kaka Gets the Ballon d’Or

He knew it, you knew it, even I knew it. But last night it was made official and Kaka was awarded the Ballon d’Or. The cat was out of the bag a while ago, when France Football magazine (who hand out the award) told Kaka to buy some nice shoes and make some room on his mantelpiece. The Golden Ball (which is exactly what it sounds like) used to be for the best European player and then the best player in the European leagues, but this year (unlike the Asian Player of the Year where only players who attend the ceremony are eligible) it was open to any player of any nationality in any league in the world. Though leading a team to Champions League glory probably helps.

Kaka (or Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, if you prefer) accepted the award graciously. “This is very special for me,” said the Brazilia, “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.”

Kaka beat Cristiano Ronaldo into 2nd place and Leo Messi into 3rd. Messi at least has the Bravo Trophy for Under 21 players as compensation, while C-Ron can always throw another kick-ass hooker-filled party.

Here’s the complete list of how the votes went for the 50 players nominated. Spare a thought for poor David Beckham. Goldbenballs himself didn’t get a single vote.

1. Kaká, 444 pts
2. Cristiano Ronaldo, 277 pts
3. Lionel Andrès Messi, 255 pts
4. Didier Drogba, 108 pts
5. Andrea Pirlo, 41 pts
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy, 39 pts.
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 31 pts.
8. Cesc Fabregas, 27 pts.
9. Robinho, 24 pts.
10. Francesco Totti, 20 pts.
11. Frédéric Kanouté, 19 pts.
12. Ronaldinho, 18 pts.
13. Steven Gerrard, 17 pts.
14. Juan Roman Riquelme, 15 pts.
15. Daniel Alves, 14 pts.
16. Filippo Inzaghi, 12 pts.
17. Franck Ribéry, 10 pts.
18. Paolo Maldini, 8 pts.
19. Gianluigi Buffon, Petr Cech, Gennaro Gattuso, Thierry Henry, Clarence Seedorf, 7 pts.
24. Fabio Cannavaro, Michael Essien, 5 pts.
26. Wayne Rooney, 4 pts.
27. Iker Casillas, Rogerio Ceni, 3 pts.
29. Younis Mahmoud, 2 pts.
30. Dimitar Berbatov, Samuel Eto’o, Ryan Giggs, Guillermo Ochoa, Carlos Tevez, Robin van Persie, 1 pt.
36. Eric Abidal, David Beckham, Deco, Mahamadou Diarra, Diego, Miroslav Klose, Florent Malouda, Shunsuke Nakamura, Ricardo Quaresma, Raul, Paul Scholes, Luca Toni, Kolo Touré, José Fernando Torres, David Villa, 0 pt.

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